Jalen Smith, who played a key role in an NCAA basketball betting and bribery scandal, was sentenced Tuesday to 72 months in prison. The sentence is below the maximum of 87 months that federal prosecutors recommended Oct. 2, but within the range allowed. Smith was also sentenced to three years of supervised probation, restitution of $1.1 million, and to forfeit $75,000.
Smith was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (EDPA). Smith pled guilty to charges around a wide-reaching NCAA match-fixing scheme in March, and prosecutors say he was responsible for recruiting and bribing college basketball players across the U.S.
“Today’s sentencing sends a clear message: Those who exploit professional and collegiate athletes for personal gain will be held accountable,” Wayne A. Jacobs, special agent in charge of FBI Philadelphia, said via EDPA press release. “This conduct does more than harm individual athletes. It undermines the integrity of sports and the trust placed in fair competition. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to pursue those who seek to manipulate that trust for their own financial benefit and ensure they are held responsible for their actions.”
Prosecutors leaned into history
Per a Philadelphia Inquirer report, Smith told the court that “I was used as a pawn in this scheme.” But he also said, “My decisions have consequences, and I accept all of them.”
Federal prosecutors came down harder on Smith than others previously sentenced in illegal bookmaking or match-fixing schemes, in part because he has a felony history and was also charged with illegal possession of an automatic weapon. Eight years ago, Smith was charged with possession and intent to sell marijuana. He served his sentence for that, and more recently settled the weapons charge, which was brought in North Carolina.
But prosecutors leaned into that history in their sentencing memorandum, and in court pointed out that the scope of the fraud was relevant. “This was an extremely serious, far-reaching, massive bribery [and] sports fixing case,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis D. Lappen said in court per the Inquirer. “I don’t know that we’ve ever seen anything bigger than this anywhere.”
Smith’s lawyer, in a rebuttal last week, argued that Smith had reformed from his previous crime, and that he should not get the maximum sentence because he was not the “originator” of the NCAA scheme — and had no part in the first part of the scheme, which was fixing Chinese Basketball Association games. In addition, attorney Rocco C. Cipparone wrote that Smith’s untreated ADHD and ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder) should be taken into consideration and that he should be given more credit for pleading guilty early.
More than half of the defendants in the NCAA and CBA case have pled guilty and await sentencing. Per court documents, the NCAA scheme touched 39 players, 29 games, and 17 players. The end result was $3 million wagered on legal sportsbooks, which lost $1.1 million. Smith received $75,000 for his participation.
