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player ready...Two former Northwestern University basketball players were indicted Thursday for allegedly fixing games in 1995 as part of a point-shaving gambling scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s office announced Thursday.
A three-year federal investigation of gambling at the Evanston campus also led to indictments against three others, including another student who allegedly worked as a bookmaker and threatened to hurt one of the basketball players who hadn’t paid a gambling debt.
The gambling scandal is the most serious ever to hit a school known for academics and a bottom-of-the-conference basketball program.
The investigation began in December 1994, when Northwestern officials turned over to the U.S. Attorney’s office the results of their own internal inquiry into betting on campus.
“Northwestern officials and the athletic department have cooperated fully with the federal investigation,” said U.S. Attorney Scott Lassar in a statement announcing the indictments.
Kenneth Dion Lee, the team’s top three-point shooter, and Dewey Williams, a starting forward, allegedly made certain the Northwestern Wildcats lost the games by more than the point spread set by bookmakers, according to the statement.
A bettor placing a wager on Northwestern’s opponents would collect if the opponent won by more than the spread, the margin of points between the winner and loser.
The indictment alleges that Kevin Pendergast, 27, a Californian who formerly lived in Chicago, paid Lee $4,000 to fix the games.
Pendergast and Brian Irving, 27, also of California, are charged with traveling to Nevada to place bets on Northwestern’s opponents, Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan. Brian Ballarini, 25, of Chicago was indicted on extortion and racketeering charges.