Jalen Smith, one of the men alleged to have helped perpetrate a sprawling college basketball point-shaving scheme, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to charges stemming from a Department of Justice indictment that unspooled the gambling ring.
Smith was one of the men who helped recruit college basketball players into the scheme and delivered money to them, according to federal prosecutors. He was identified as a fixer and charged in January alongside 25 others, including 20 college basketball players, and former NBA player and LSU star Antonio Blakeney.
Smith pleaded guilty to one count each of aiding and abetting bribery in sports contests, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. He also pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm despite being unable to own one because of prior felony convictions; FBI agents found the gun during a search of his home.
He was, according to prosecutors, a basketball trainer in North Carolina. He approached players on low and mid-major college basketball teams and invited them to help a group of sports gamblers win their wagers on games involving their teams. Those players were usually paid somewhere between $10,000 to $30,000 per game, according to the indictment.
The gamblers usually wagered on first-half points spreads and sometimes full-game spreads. They asked players to diminish their performances in those games so that they could win individual or parlay bets that sometimes involved hundreds of thousands of dollars per game.
Smith, according to prosecutors, would then deliver the money to the players who had participated. He delivered $32,000 to two Nicholls State players for a Feb. 17, 2024 game, according to prosecutors, after the bettors in the gambling scheme wagered more than $100,000 on the game. Smith also worked with some players to get them to induce others to join in. The scheme allegedly lasted through the 2023-24 and 2024-25 college basketball seasons.
The point-shaving scheme included at least 17 schools, according to federal prosecutors, and was allegedly run by some of the same men who were indicted and charged as part of a Department of Justice investigation into an NBA gambling scheme. Marves Fairley and Shane Hennen were arrested for what prosecutors say were their roles in a scheme that traded on nonpublic information to bet on NBA games. That case also led to charges against Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier. Hennen was also charged as part of a rigged poker ring case that prosecutors say is tied to the NBA gambling case. He and Fairley pleaded not guilty to all charges.