SDNY COURTHOUSE, August 14 – Former Auburn assistant basketball coach and NBA player Chuck Connors Person received a sentence of time served and extensive praise from Judge Loretta A. Preska of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on July 17.
While the government over-reached in describing Person's motive as "insatiable" greed, given money he has given or loaned to causes and people in Alabama, Judge Preska notably did not mention in going with time served that Person claimed that government cooperator Marty Blazer was his and Charles Barkley's financial adviser, and urged the use of burner phones to cover up.
Now in August, fellow NCAA convictees have appealed from their conviction, telling the Second Circuit among other things that "During jury selection, the District Court struck every person who felt that college athletes should be paid, see A91-A95, and ultimately, the jury consisted of 12 people who did not follow college basketball and were thus especially unlikely to engage in unlawful jury nullification based on a newly-impassioned belief that the NCAA’s rules were unjust. The District Court’s decision to preclude Appellants from presenting Dr. Rascher’s testimony was prompted by its belief that this testimony would be utilized to support an improper defense “approach” that encouraged the jury to acquit not because the Government failed to prove its case, but because the NCAA’s rules were unfair. (SPA 37 (“the bulk of [Appellants’] proposed expert testimony” was being offered in order to 'threaten a jury verdict based on perceived economic unfairness of the NCAA rules to the student athletes rather than on the merits of the charges”).)'" This is why it's good, or at least interesting, to go to trial. Inner City Press will continue to cover these cases, and issues.
Back on July one expected Judge Preska, even before going with time served, to say as Judge Edgardo Ramos did that "the conduct charged is serious." Here, Judge Preska concluded that Chuck Person's problem was that he was generous to a fault. More, including on Luverne "loan" and the former Superintendent of Banks of the State of Alabama John D. Harrison on Patreon, here.
In the middle of the proceeding one of the Assistant US Attorneys in the back of the courtroom left, and one can imagine why. This transcript is a rebuke to the SDNY's prosecution. What if Merl Code had gotten Judge Preska? Charity and mercy are good to see, but it is hard not to see a disparity in sentencing here. The argument that Person's loss amount only rose because the government didn't choose to arrest him earlier is one that could be tried by any number of defendants. And, just as an aside for now, will belatedly charitable UN briber Patrick Ho be quietly allowed to return to Hong Kong and China to be released, as filings in his case have been sealed? What *was* that proceeding, from which Inner City Press was asked to leave?
Former University of South Carolina and Oklahoma State assistant basketball coach Lamont Events was sentenced to three months in prison on June 7 by SDNY Judge Ramos. Evans will also have to pay back $22,000 he received.
But there's more: Evans' lawyer former Assistant US Attorney Martin told Judge Ramos that despite Evans being in the US since he was two years old he is not a citizen and he may face removal proceedings.
Martin prefaced the argument by saying that in the Second Circuit he is not permitted to argue, nor Judge Ramos to consider, this. Judge Ramos did not refer to it in imposing sentence, on his third coach in as many days. He permitted Evans to wait until July 26 to self-surrender, so he can finish basketball work with his son.
On June 6 before Judge Ramos passed sentence, like Evans on June 7, Emanuel "Book" Richardson spoke for himself. He said he's from New York City and has lived in all boroughs except Staten Island. He said his mother gave birth to him when she was fifteen years old. He said he has emptied out his 401(k). He is apparently teaching basketball to teenagers, for $40 to $50 an hour.
Judge Ramos imposed a sentence lower than Merl Code, for example, got in the first case, but higher than the previous day's sentence on USC's Tony Bland, who received only the two years probation for taking a $4,100 bribe from Christian Dawkins. Lamont Evans is still out there, and Inner City Press will continue to cover this case.
Judge Ramos said the University of Arizona has been injured, by prospects de-committing and by what he seemed to accept is an impending or begun NCAA investigation specifically of University of Arizona.
The day before on June 5, Bland's defense lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman who with a colleague was again in Judge Ramos' courtroom on June 6, speaking afterwards with Richardson and then his lawyer - described Bland's tough childhood in Watts, comparing it to his own and to that of Assistant U.S. Attorney Eli Mark (who was present but did not do the speaking for the government on June 6).
Lichtman and Mark has faced off at a sentencing on June 4, of Municipal Credit Union former CEO Kam Wong who, for stealing $9.8 million to spend on lottery tickets was sentenced to 66 months in prison by SDNY Judge John Koeltl. Inner City Press coverage here.
Lichtman said that while there had been a lot of angry victim letters against his client Kam Wong, there were none against Tony Bland. He said that Bland has become a friend. Kam Wong, apparently, not so much.
Judge Ramos, in his courtroom where he recently heard the Trump v. Deutsche Bankcase now on appeal to the Second Circuit [Inner City Press coverage here], asked AUSA Mark if the allegedly victimized student athletes had spoken to the grand jury. This question was understandably not answered, at least not as to the grand jury.
He said that the legitimacy or not of not paying college athletes had not played a role in his view of the case or sentencing. He praised Bland for, despite his childhood, having had no criminal history before this, and even now only a non-violent offense. He disagreed with Lichtman's statement, or argument, that Bland is "finished." He may not work in basketball but it is a big world. The case is US v. Evans, et al., 17-cr-684 (Ramos).
Back in May 9 in the NCAA college basketball bribery trial before Judge Ramos, the jury found Christian Dawkins guilty on two of the six counts against him, Merl Code of only one. Code by the elevator outside the courtroom told the press that there had been no evidence showing him bribing any one but that the verdict is the verdict and that he and his legal team with work on it.
