Jalen Smith Pleads Guilty To Sports Bribery, Fraud Charges In NCAA Point-Shaving Case

Jalen Smith, a key recruiter for a sprawling NCAA basketball point-shaving scheme that led to 26 federal indictments in Janaury, reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors on Monday. Smith, 30, pleaded guilty to counts of bribery in sporting contests, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and a gun charge, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania before United States District Court Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro.

The bribery and point-shaving scheme involved more than 39 players on more than 17 different NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams, according to charging documents. Per court documents, the co-conspirators are alleged to have manipulated the outcomes of more than 29 games dating back to 2022. The ring’s standard procedure was to identify underdog teams and coerce players to underperform so bettors could win bets on the spread.

Bribery in sporting contests charges carry a maximum possible sentence of five years of imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud each yield a maximum possible sentence of 20 years of imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

Details of Jalen Smith’s involvement

Smith, a North Carolina resident, is portrayed in charging documents as a key recruiter of NCAA players and a game-fixer who allegedly shuttled large sums of money between gamblers and the point shavers. Text messages show Smith offering bribes of from $10,000 to $30,000 to players in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 NCAA seasons, chiding them when they were not performing as expected, and was photographed on an airplane with $100,000 in cash allegedly bound for co-conspirators at Kennesaw State University.

Smith, in a tandem with Antonio Blakeney, a former Chicago Bulls and Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) player, exploited connections throughout college basketball to lure players into the scheme. The broader scheme began with a point-shaving scheme in the CBA in 2022, with Blakeney as the recruiter.

The gambling ring, which also includes co-conspirators Shane Hennen and Marves Fairley — who were indicted in the Terry Rozier and “rigged poker” plots, and are connected to the Jontay Porter case — targeted players at lower-prestige programs that lacked the type of revenue-generating Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals of their peers at power conference programs.

The scope of bets involving Smith include:

• A $424,000 on a Kent State vs. Buffalo game.
• A $242,000 on a Duquesne vs. St. Louis game.
• A $231,000 on a Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. Northwestern State game.

Smith also pleaded guilty to one count of possessing a firearm as a felon. He was charged after a May 21, 2025 search of his home found him to be in unlawful possession of a loaded Khar Arms CT380 semi-automatic pistol. Smith was convicted on two counts of possession with intent to distribute in 2018. The firearms charge carries a maximum possible sentence of 15 years of imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.