TOLEDO: UT's Villegas involved in point-shaving scandal

[clevfan]

UT's Villegas involved in point-shaving scandal

Wednesday, 06 Aug 2008

The gambling scandal at the University of Toledo is back as another athlete has been charged in a point-shaving scheme.

Former Rockets men's basketball player Sammy Villegas has been charged with one count of conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery.

A federal information document was filed at the end of June in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit.

In 2007 University of Toledo football player Harvey "Scooter" McDougle was also charged with a similar offense. However, those charges were dropped.

Investigators have given no indication that these two cases are related.

In a seven-page information document filed June 30, Villegas "did agree upon and carry into effect a 'point shaving' scheme to 'fix' University of Toledo Men's Basketball games during the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 basketball seasons."

Inside the seven-page information document, it specifically mentions a 2006 game against Mid-American Conference opponent Central Michigan University in while Villegas "during the game intentionally missed two free throw attempts."

(FOX Toledo's Brad Fanning, Shaun Hegarty, and Mike Thompson contributed to this report)

[clevfan]

HERE'S THE 7 PAGE DOCUMENT:

http://media.myfoxtoledo.com/WUPWMIS...nformation.pdf

[clevfan]

JUST IN: Former UT player charged for point shaving

Posted: Aug 6, 2008 05:01 PM EDT

TOLEDO (WTOL) - News 11 has learned former University of Toledo basketball player Sammy Villegas has been charged with a point-shaving scheme.

Villegas was a guard (#24) for the rockets. His best season was the 2003-04 season his sophomore year.

The charges were filed in federal court in Detroit on June 30, but the papers were sealed. They have just recently been made available. He has been charged with conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery. They include manipulating the point spread in UT men's basketball games from December 2004 to March of 2006. The papers allege he agreed to shave point so others could place bets on the games.

The papers allege he accepted money and other things of value. Also that he tried to recruit other UT basketball players into the scheme.

The case has been assigned to a judge in federal court in Detroit.

News 11 is following this developing story. We'll have more details as they become available on wtol.com and on News 11 at 5 and 6.

[j]

TOLEDO, Ohio -- A former University of Toledo basketball player has been charged with fixing games, according to a federal indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

Sammy Villegas, who played for four years at Toledo, is accused of shaving points in games during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons.

Villegas, a guard who finished his career in 2006, also paid money to another player who took part in the point-shaving scheme, prosecutors said.

The other player was not charged or named in the indictment, which was filed June 30.

Villegas was charged with conspiracy to influence sports contests by bribery and received money and other gifts in exchange for fixing games, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also didn't name who paid the players. Villegas traveled to Michigan several times to meet with another participant in the scheme, the indictment said.

He intentionally missed two free throws in a game against Central State in 2006, the indictment said.

ESPN - Ex-player charged in Toledo point-shaving conspiracy - Men's College Basketball

He intentionally missed two free throws in a game against Central State in 2006, the indictment said.

That wasn't a lined game. One just shakes one's head at these journalists.

[howid]

there are of course fixes all over the college landscape... it's a wonder there aren't more scandals

[drunkguy]

well some bookies in Toledo must have been making a fortune

[clevfan]

Former University of Toledo basketball player tried to fix game, feds say
Charge cites point shaving in basketball

By MAUREEN FULTON
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

A former University of Toledo men’s basketball player has been charged by federal authorities in Detroit with accepting bribes for point shaving in a 2006 game.

The felony charge against Sammy Villegas, a 25-year-old native of Puerto Rico, stems from the Rockets’ 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons.

“It was part of the conspiracy that Samuel Aviles Villegas and other persons known and unknown to the United States Attorney, did agree upon and carry into effect a ‘point shaving’ scheme to ‘fix’ University of Toledo men’s basketball games,” according to the federal charge first filed in June. The formal charge is conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery.

“[Villegas] did accept the payment of money and other things of value, in exchange for using his ability as a player to control events on the basketball court during games to attempt to ensure that the University of Toledo basketball team would score a certain number of points determined by the point spread,” the charge stated.

The court documents state that other participants in the conspiracy placed wagers on certain UT men’s basketball games knowing the games were “fixed.”

Mr. Villegas, according to federal officials, met with “a conspirator” five times between Nov. 30, 2005, and Jan. 11, 2006, in Toledo, Detroit, and Hamtramck, Mich. He also made or received five phone calls to “a conspirator.”

Three of the calls took place on Feb. 4, on the afternoon before a Rockets home game and one occurred later that night after UT defeated Central Michigan University.

“On or about February, 4, 2006, [Villegas] played in the men’s basketball game in Toledo, Ohio, between teams from the University of Toledo and Central [Michigan] University, and during the game intentionally missed two free throw attempts,” the federal charges stated.

The charge also stated that Mr. Villegas acted “as an intermediary in paying money to another University of Toledo men’s basketball team member who was a participant in the conspiracy.”

If convicted, Mr. Villegas faces five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine. He remains free on a $10,000 bond.

Mr. Villegas is scheduled to appear at a hearing in U.S. District Court at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 18 in Detroit.

UT spokesman Larry Burns said the university will cooperate with the investigation “if we’re asked to and if authorities need information.”

“Beyond that, we don’t see us playing a role at this time as a university or athletic department,” Mr. Burns said. “We didn’t find out about this until [yesterday]. Our initial reaction is of concern for the player and his family.”

A phone message left for Mr. Villegas’ attorney, John Belanger of Sterling Heights, Mich., was not returned.

Mr. Villegas is the second former UT athlete to be charged with conspiring to point shave in the last two years.

Former UT football player Harvey “Scooter” McDougle, Jr., was accused in March, 2007, of participating in a gambling scheme. The charges were dropped, but a U.S. attorney’s spokesman said the case remains open.

The Detroit gambler cited in a McDougle affidavit as being connected to the point-shaving conspiracy, Ghazi “Gary” Manni, said yesterday he was unaware of the charges brought against Mr. Villegas.

Manni said he knew Mr. Villegas, just as he knew many other UT athletes, but did not enter into any conspiracy with Mr. Villegas to shave points.

“Seriously, one person cannot change the outcome of a game,” Mr. Manni said. “They’re just assuming things.”
Mr. Villegas graduated from UT in 2006 with a bachelor of science degree in individual programs from the university college. He has played professionally for the last three years and currently plays for Los Cocolos de San Pedro Macoris in the Dominican Republic.

Mr. Villegas, a shooting guard, was the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year in 2002-03. He had a good sophomore season in 2003-04, averaging 13.8 points per game. He was invited to try out for Puerto Rico’s Olympic basketball team in the summer of 2004 and was named a team alternate.

In Mr. Villegas’ junior and senior seasons, though, his level of play fell off. Those are the years he has been accused of conspiring to influence games.

In 2004-05, Mr. Villegas’ scoring average dropped 4½ points from the previous year and his shooting percentage fell drastically, from 45 percent to 37 percent. He told The Blade before his senior season in October, 2005, “I got a big head. I thought I’d accomplished something, but I hadn’t. I got kind of lazy and didn’t work as hard. It affected my attitude and everything went down — shooting percentage, 3-point shooting, scoring, minutes. There’s nobody to blame but myself.”

His senior season Mr. Villegas was mostly a nonfactor. He averaged just six points and 1.8 rebounds per game with a 35.4 shooting percentage. His poor play was mystifying to the UT coaching staff.

Former UT coach Stan Joplin did not return a phone message seeking comment last night. But in late January, 2006, Coach Joplin told The Blade, “I just can’t explain what has happened to Sammy. ... It’s killing us because he gets a lot of open shots. He’s not making them and it affects the rest of his game.

“This has been going on now for almost two years. He can’t figure out the problem, and I can’t figure it out. I’m not pointing the finger solely at Sammy because none of our upperclassmen are consistently playing all that well. But if he makes just one or two more shots every night we’re probably winning some close games instead of losing them,” Coach Joplin said at the time.

In the Feb. 4, 2006, game, Mr. Villegas came off the bench to play 21 minutes against Central Michigan. He took one shot from the field, a 3-pointer, and made it.

According to the game’s play-by-play, he was fouled with 27 seconds remaining and the Rockets ahead by 16 points. The point spread printed in The Blade that day listed the Rockets as 15½ point favorites.

Mr. Villegas missed both free throws. Central Michigan attempted two shots before the final buzzer sounded and missed both. UT won 78-62.

Sports writer Joe Vardon contributed to this report.

[clevfan]

Article published Thursday, August 7, 2008

Villegas' guardian told player to "tell the truth"

By MAUREEN FULTON
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

The legal guardian for former University of Toledo basketball player Sammy Villegas when he came to Ohio as a teenager, Richard Warren, said he told Villegas in recent months to "tell the truth and cooperate" when Villegas told him he had spoken with authorities regarding point-shaving allegations.

Villegas, a native of Puerto Rico, was charged by federal authorities in Detroit in June for accepting bribes for point shaving. Warren, a common pleas court judge in Allen County, said he has not spoken to Villegas since the charges were made public Wednesday but he believes he is currently in the Dominican Republic playing professional basketball.

Warren has talked to Villegas several times since he graduated from the University of Toledo in 2006. He said of Villegas, "Sammy is so free-spirited, loving, innocent. That's the way he's always been."

[clevfan]

Coach doubts former Toledo player shaved points

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -Sammy Villegas was the Mid-American Conference freshman of the year. The following season he helped Toledo reach the National Invitation Tournament.

Villegeas seemed ready to become a star, but everything fell apart in his final two seasons. He couldn't score. His playing time dropped off. His coaches were mystified.

Now, federal prosecutors say Villegas was shaving points in some games during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons.

Villegas also paid another player who took part in point-shaving, prosecutors said. The other player was not charged or named in documents filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

Villegas has a sentencing date scheduled for Nov. 18, although there is nothing filed that indicates he has entered a plea. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit would not say whether Villegas was helping with the investigation.

"We're letting the information speak for itself,'' Gina Balaya, a spokeswoman for the office, said Thursday.

Villegas is free on bond and does not face travel restrictions, she said. He played pro basketball this year in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, his native country.

His former guardian in Ohio said Thursday that he had known about the investigation for quite awhile.

"All we told him was tell the truth and cooperate,'' said Richard Warren, a county judge in Lima. "He didn't say what happened.''

He called Villegas a free-spirit with a childlike innocence. "That's the way he's always been,'' Warren said.

Warren has been unable to reach Villegas over the past month. Messages seeking comment were left with Villegas' attorney, John Belanger of Sterling Heights, Mich.

Villegas is charged with conspiracy to influence sports contests by bribery and received money and other gifts in exchange for fixing games, prosecutors said. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

An alternate for Puerto Rico's Olympic basketball team four years ago, Villegas came to the United States when he was 16 and hoped to land a college scholarship.

He grew up poor and spoke little English yet he still managed to make an impression on coaches at Toledo.

Villegas started every game as a freshman and the next season he averaged 13.8 points per game, leading the Rockets to only their second 20-win season in 20 years.

Friends were telling him that he had a shot at the NBA if he put together a strong junior season. But instead, he lost his reliable outside shooting touch and never found it over his last two seasons.

"I just saw it spiraling,'' said James Stafford, a former Toledo assistant. "We all thought the pressure was getting to him.''

Villegas saw limited time his senior year and averaged just 6 points per game.

"He still came into the gym and practiced his shot,'' Stafford said. "He just couldn't make shots.''

His slump coincided with when prosecutors said he began taking part in the point-shaving scheme. Court documents said he met with or talked to a conspirator from Michigan 10 times in 2005 and 2006.

He intentionally missed two free throws in a game on Feb. 4., 2006, prosecutors said.

On that day, Toledo beat Central Michigan 78-62. Villegas hit his only shot of the game, a 3-pointer, but missed two free throws in the final minute.

Former Toledo coach Stan Joplin said in January 2006 that he was at a loss over how far Villegas had fallen.

"It's killing us because he gets a lot of open shots,'' Joplin told The (Toledo) Blade newspaper. "If he makes just one or two more shots every night, we're probably winning some close games instead of losing them.''

Stafford said he was not convinced Villegas ever shaved points.

"I'm not going to say there was no way in the world they could have done that,'' Stafford said. "But I don't think so. I didn't see anything like that.''

He said he trusted Villegas enough to let him baby-sit his sons. He knew there were rumors about point-shaving after he left, but never expected Villegas to be linked to them. "It was one of the last names I would have expected to see,'' Stafford said.

Prosecutors didn't say how many games were involved or who paid the players.

The case against Villegas comes just over a year after a Toledo football player was accused in a gambling scheme. Those charges, though, were dropped.

Prosecutors said a Michigan gambler recruited players to affect the outcome of Rockets football and basketball games.

The gambler, who has not been charged, has been identified as Gary Manni of Sterling Heights.

Manni told The Blade on Wednesday that he knew many Toledo athletes including Villegas, but he was not involved in a point-shaving scheme.

"Seriously, one person cannot change the outcome of a game,'' Manni said. "They're just assuming things.''

[southie]

With my luck I was probably on the wrong side of those games....

[clevfan]

Article published Friday, August 8, 2008

Agent says ex-athlete at UT will cooperate
Probe of Villegas centers on alleged point shaving

By MAUREEN FULTON
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

The agent of former University of Toledo men's basketball player Sammy Villegas said yesterday that Mr. Villegas will fully cooperate with federal authorities regarding the point-shaving charges he faces.

Giddel Padilla, president of Next Level sports and entertainment agency in Puerto Rico, said his client was advised by his lawyers not to speak to the media.

"Due to the delicate nature of the case, we can not comment in detail on the matter," Mr. Padilla said in a statement that was translated from Spanish into English.

"For us, the most important thing is that our client is represented as he should be, and we understand that in time everything will resolve itself. Sammy has our support and the support of his family."

Mr. Villegas was charged in U.S. District Court in Detroit in June with taking bribes to shave points in games during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 basketball seasons, his junior and senior years at UT.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine. Mr. Villegas has permission to travel and is currently playing professional basketball in the Dominican Republic.

On June 13, Mr. Villegas waived an indictment and has a sentencing date scheduled for Nov. 18, signs that point to him having reached a plea agreement. However, the spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Detroit, Gina Balaya, declined to comment on whether Mr. Villegas has already entered a guilty plea.

Mr. Villegas' attorney, John Belanger, did not return a phone message seeking comment yesterday. Mr. Belanger's answering machine in Sterling Heights, Mich., said he would be out of the office until next week.

The federal documents state Mr. Villegas also paid another unnamed player to shave points. The player has not been charged.

Richard Warren, Mr. Villegas' former guardian, said he has tried to reach the athlete but only has a phone number for him in Mr. Villegas' native Puerto Rico, not in the Dominican Republic. Mr. Villegas, 25, is playing for the Cocolos of San Pedro de Macoris and has also played professionally in Puerto Rico.

Judge Warren, a common pleas court judge in Allen County, and his wife, Ann, became Mr. Villegas' legal guardians when Mr. Villegas was 16. Judge Warren has talked to Mr. Villegas several times since he graduated from the University of Toledo in 2006. He said, "Sammy is so free-spirited, loving, innocent. That's the way he's always been."

When Mr. Villegas told Judge Warren in recent months that he and "some others" were talking to federal authorities regarding the investigation, Judge Warren said he told him to "tell the truth and cooperate."

"Sometimes the choices we make, we have to step up to the plate and deal with those choices," Judge Warren said. "You handle it by running from it, or you step up."

When the charges against Mr. Villegas became public on Wednesday, it didn't surprise one Las Vegas bookie.

"Of all teams in recent years, those Toledo basketball games had by far the strongest buzz around Vegas that something funny was going on," RJ Bell of Pregame.com said on his Web site. Mr. Bell is a professional handicapper and a published sports gambling author.

Mr. Bell noted, however, that during the '04-'05 and '05-'06 seasons, UT had a winning record of 30-26 against the Las Vegas point spread, "which would be surprising if rampant game fixing had occurred," he wrote. "By definition, a fixed game is when a player purposely plays poorly so his team loses against the betting spread."

The game prosecutors mentioned in their charges was on Feb. 4, 2006, when the Rockets played a home game against Central Michigan. UT was favored in the game by 15 1/2 points and won by 16, 78-62. Mr. Villegas missed two free throws in the final minute of the game, and the charges state his misses were intentional.

[howid]

[Johnny Detroit]

Originally Posted by drunkguy

well some bookies in Toledo must have been making a fortune

the opposite. where do u think people were playing these into? i know it got to the point where bookies here on the "east side" of Detroit were either circling or not even taking Toledo games. eventually, they were not taking hardly any MAC anything. lol.

the problem was people can't help but brag. i first heard the rumor during the bowl game they lost. than again in hoops. toward the end it seemed almost everyone knew something about it.

[Total Square]

The agent of former University of Toledo men's basketball player Sammy Villegas said yesterday that Mr. Villegas will fully cooperate with federal authorities regarding the point-shaving charges he faces.

why in the world would this guy have an agent???

[drunkguy]

Originally Posted by Johnny Detroit

the opposite. where do u think people were playing these into? i know it got to the point where bookies here on the "east side" of Detroit were either circling or not even taking Toledo games. eventually, they were not taking hardly any MAC anything. lol.

I would think the opposite


any local who is taking enough money to make it worthwhile is not someone I want to be betting fixed games into...don't need that knock on the door in the middle of the night


i would think, if anything, the local organized crime-types (i.e. bookies and their backers) would be tuned into the funny stuff and could use it to either rape their clients or bet it themselves elsewhere

just my theory though