SDNY COURTHOUSE, January 30 – In an otherwise routine allocution of guilt on January 20 by a former college basketball coach to steering prosects to financial advisers for bribes, the prosecution's final question caused chaos. Lamont Evans had read a statement but got asked if he knew what he did was wrong and against the law. He replied that he knew it was wrong. But he did not know it was against the law.
The proceeding stopped; his lawyer Mr. Martin conferred with the at least four representatives of the US Attorney's Office there. Finally because his prepared statement said he knew it was illegal, and seemingly because knowledge of illegality was not an element of the crime, things proceeded, and will proceed to sentencing. Inner City Press retrieved its phone and laptop from security - which had taken some ten minutes to pass through - and streamed this Periscope videofrom Foley Square. From the government's press release after the proceeding: "Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that LAMONT EVANS, a former men’s basketball coach at the University of South Carolina (“South Carolina”) and later at Oklahoma State University (“OSU”), pled guilty in Manhattan federal court today to taking approximately $22,000 in cash bribes from athlete advisers in exchange for using his influence over South Carolina and OSU basketball players to retain the services of the advisers paying the bribes. RICHARDSON pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Lamont Evans, formerly a men’s basketball coach at South Carolina and Oklahoma State, abused his position as a mentor and coach for personal gain. Evans took bribes from unscrupulous agents and financial advisers to steer his players to those agents and advisers. A scheme Evans apparently thought was a slam-dunk actually proved to be a flagrant foul.” According to the Complaint, the Indictment, statements made in court, and publicly available documents: EVANS was a men’s basketball coach at South Carolina until on or about April 2016, and then at OSU until shortly after his arrest. Beginning in 2016, and continuing into September 2017, when EVANS was arrested, EVANS received approximately $22,000 in cash bribes from current and aspiring financial advisers and/or managers for professional athletes in exchange for EVANS’s agreement to exert his influence over certain student-athletes EVANS coached at South Carolina and OSU to retain the services of the bribe payers once those players entered the National Basketball Association (“NBA”). In one meeting recorded during the investigation, Evans explained how “every guy I recruit and get is my personal kid,” and that “the parents believe in me and what I do … that’s why I say, if I need X, so if I do take X for that, it’s going to generate [business] toward you guys,” referring to the bribers. Evans also stated in a call recorded during the investigation how this arrangement was “generating more wealth” for the scheme participants, because they were “able to scratch my back, scratch yours, and help each other with different things and . . . at the same time get compensated and then . . . just go from there.” In return for the cash bribes EVANS received, EVANS facilitated a meeting between the bribe payers and a player at OSU, and a meeting between the bribe payers and a relative of a different player attending South Carolina, for the purpose of pressuring those players to retain the financial services of the bribe payers. In addition to today’s plea, Emanuel Richardson, a/k/a “Book,” a former men’s basketball coach at the University of Arizona, and Anthony Bland, a/k/a “Tony,” a former men’s basketball coach at the University of Southern California, both previously pled guilty, pursuant to plea agreements with the Government, in connection with this scheme. Munish Sood, a financial adviser, also previously pled guilty, pursuant to a cooperation agreement with the Government, in connection with this scheme. * * * EVANS, 41, of Stillwater, Oklahoma, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. As a condition of his plea, EVANS agreed to forfeit $22,000. The charge carries a maximum term of five years in prison. The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge. Sentencing is scheduled for May 10, 2019, before Judge Ramos. Mr. Berman praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Special Agents of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Robert Boone, Noah Solowiejczyk, and Eli J. Mark are in charge of the prosecution." Earlier on January 30 in the SDNY the U.S. Treasury employee accused in October of leaking Suspicious Activity Reports about Paul Manafort and others, Natalie Edwards, pleaded not guilty on January 30 in the Southern District of New York. Afterward on Worth Street, Inner City Press asked her lawer Jacob Kaplan of Brafman & Associates about a statement made during the proceeding, that another person's device was also search. Kaplan acknowledged that had been said, adding that he didn't know who it was. Video here, Vine here. Discovery will begin once a protective order has been negotiated. The next court date is April 2 at 4 pm. The prosecutor, Daniel Richenthal, gave a copy of the Information to some in attendance. Here's from what was announced in the Complaint in October: "Beginning in approximately October 2017, and lasting until the present, EDWARDS unlawfully disclosed numerous SARs to a reporter (“Reporter-1”), the substance of which were published over the course of approximately 12 articles by a news organization for which Reporter-1 wrote (“News Organization-1”). The illegally disclosed SARs pertained to, among other things, Paul Manafort, Richard Gates, the Russian Embassy, Mariia Butina, and Prevezon Alexander. EDWARDS had access to each of the pertinent SARs and saved them – along with thousands of other files containing sensitive government information – to a flash drive provided to her by FinCEN. She transmitted the SARs to Reporter-1 by means that included taking photographs of them and texting the photographs to Reporter-1 over an encrypted application. In addition to disseminating SARs to Reporter-1, EDWARDS sent Reporter-1 internal FinCEN emails appearing to relate to SARs or other information protected by the BSA, and FinCEN nonpublic memoranda, including Investigative Memos and Intelligence Assessments published by the FinCEN Intelligence Division, which contained confidential personal, business, and/or security threat assessments. At the time of EDWARDS’s arrest, she was in possession of a flash drive appearing to be the flash drive on which she saved the unlawfully disclosed SARs, and a cellphone containing numerous communications over an encrypted application in which she transmitted SARs and other sensitive government information to Reporter-1." We'll have more on this.
