Well, this is some bad news for fans of the Florida Gators, and for the team in general. But considering there are nine players who reportedly could be charged with felonies in the wake of a debit card fraud scheme, it’s probably worse news for them.
Via Trey Wallace of The Read Optional, who reported on the story:
The nine University of Florida Football players who are facing allegations of having misused school funds, could be arrested as early as the end of this week, sources have told The Read Optional.
Antonio Callaway, Jordan Smith, and one other player are likely to be arrested on charges of felony grand theft, with the possibility of further misdemeanour charges being tagged on, according to a lawyer representing one of the players. It’s anticipated that the other six players will also be arrested, but only three players have hired legal counsel thus far.
That’s not good! The details of the scheme don’t paint a picture of some kind of master criminal ring. Rather, it feels more like a bunch of college kids making really dumb decisions without realizing what they’re accused of doing constituted a federal offense:
The investigation began back in mid-August when seven players were suspended indefinitely from team activities for purchasing electronic items with their school debit cards, selling them for cash, then claiming the cards as stolen, sources have confirmed to The Read Optional.
Yikes. The money has reportedly been paid back in full, and though the charges are probably going to be serious, given the circumstances, it’s unlikely these players are going to have the book thrown at them. And hey, if they follow the blueprint already in place, Auburn is going to have quite the influx of talent in the next few years.
Also, hey, here’s another thing to note: unpaid college football players are turning to ill-conceived white collar crime to scrape up some extra cash. Maybe they’d be better off with more relaxed NCAA rules, but I’m no expert.
