Ex-Arizona Assistant Book Richardson Sentenced to Three Months in Prison
Former Arizona assistant Emanuel "Book" Richardson has been sentenced to three months in prison and two years of supervised release for his role in the NCAA basketball federal bribery case, Adam Zagoria reported on Thursday.
According to Zagoria, Richardson was sentenced by judge Edgardo Ramos in New York. Richardson's attorney had previously filed a sentencing submission to Ramos asking for a probation-only sentence after a probation officer recommended three months in prison.
"I do think three months is appropriate," Ramos said, per Zagoria. "I have no doubt he's a person who has done a lot of good."
Ramos added that the sentence "merits some degree of leniency because of the largely good life that [Richardson] has led."
Richardson was one of 10 people arrested in September 2017 as a result of a federal investigation and the NCAA college basketball corruption trial. He entered a guilty plea in January to charges that he accepted $20,000 in bribes to influence certain Arizona players to hire agent Christian Dawkins.
Richarson also reportedly told Dawkins that head coach Sean Miller was paying Deandre Ayton $10,000 to make sure he would sign with the Wildcats. Federal prosecutors played the intercepted phone call in court in May.
Richardson is the first coach to receive jail time as a result of the scandal. Former USC assistant Tony Bland was given two years of probation and 100 hours of community service on Wednesday.
