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Financial advisor in college basketball bribery case pleads guilty

NCAA Coaches Indicted On Federal Bribery And Corruption Charges

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 26: Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Attorneyâs Office, Southern District of New York, on September 26, 2017 in New York, New York. announce charges of fraud and corruption in college basketball. The acting U.S. Attorney announced Federal criminal charges against ten people, including four college basketball coaches, as well as managers, financial advisors, and representatives of a major international sportswear company. (Photo by Kevin Hagen/Getty Images)

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Munish Sood, the financial advisor that was alleged by the FBI to have provided bribes to three assistant coaches, has pleaded guilty to three felony counts.

Sood was one of the ten men arrested during the FBI’s sweeps in September of 2017 as part of the government’s investigation into corruption in the college basketball recruiting world. He is alleged to have provided bribes to three coaches -- Arizona’s Book Richardson, Oklahoma State’s Lamont Evans (while he was at South Carolina) and USC’s Tony Bland -- in exchange for influence over where players on their rosters would invest their money when they turned pro.

Sood had formed a sports management firm with Christian Dawkins, a former runner for ex-NBA agent Andy Miller that is the centerpiece of this case. Dawkins was the man that had the connections to players and coaches, including Brian Bowen, the former Louisville recruit that was funneled $100,000 from Adidas, a transaction that resulted in Rick Pitino’s tenure with the Cardinals coming to an end.

According to a plea agreement that was filed last week and obtained by ESPN, Sood plead guilty to felony conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services fraud and travel act offenses; payments of bribes to an agent of a federally funded organization; and wire fraud conspiracy. This is not a total surprise; Sood was not indicted in November when the three coaches listed above, Dawkins, former Auburn assistant Chuck Person, former Adidas executives James Gatto and Merl Code and former NBA referee Rashan Michel were indicted.

Sood is expected to testify against the other defendants. The trials begin next month.