January 15, 2026
Michael Tanenbaum/PhillyVoice
More than two dozen people are charged in alleged sports betting conspiracy involving NCAA basketball games and a professional league in China, federal investigators say. David Metcalf, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, joined above by FBI officials, says the defendants 'polluted' the integrity of betting markets and the sport.
An alleged scheme to fix more than two dozen men's college basketball games in recent years, including one at La Salle University, was unveiled Thursday by federal prosecutors in Philadelphia.
Prosecutors allege former NBA player Antonio Blakeney and others attempted to fix 29 Division I basketball games during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons by bribing players to underperform in ways that ensured their teams failed to cover the point spread. The scheme allegedly included 39 players on 17 teams, but charges were only brought against 15 players Thursday.
Blakeney and the fixers are accused of fixing Chinese Basketball Association games, too.
"To capitalize on this scheme, the fixers made wagers totaling millions of dollars, generating substantial proceeds for the fixers and the players who collectively received hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribe payments for fixing their teams' basketball games," an indictment reads.
Blakeney and the fixers, who include Shane Hennen, of Philadelphia, offered the NCAA players bribes ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 per game to underperform. They then allegedly placed substantial bets against those players' teams. To conceal their scheme, they allegedly used several sportsbooks.
The fixers targeted players for whom the bribes would "meaningfully supplement or exceed" their NIL opportunities, the indictment says. They also sought players on teams that would be underdogs in the games they bet on.
The scheme included a La Salle University game in February 2024, investigators said. Blakeney and others allegedly offered La Salle players bribes to underperform in the first half of a home game against St. Bonaventure University. The fixers, including Hennen, allegedly placed bets totaling $247,000 on St. Bonaventure to cover the first-half spread, including a $30,000 wager with FanDuel Sportsbook at Live! Casino in Philadelphia. But the Bonnies did not cover the spread, and the bets failed.
La Salle issued a statement Thursday saying the university had just been made aware of the indictment.
"Neither the university, current student-athletes or staff are subjects of the indictment," spokesperson Max Rottenecker said. "We will fully cooperate as needed with officials and investigations."
David Metcalf, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said the alleged conspiracy "mushroomed" into an international scheme after Hennen and another defendant, Marves Fairley, recruited Blakeney to play poorly in games for the Chinese Basketball Association's Jiangsu Dragons. Blakeney, a former college standout at Louisiana State University, went to the CBA in 2022 after a brief NBA career mostly spent with the Chicago Bulls.
In China, Blakeney averaged more than 32 points per game during the 2022-23 season. But ahead of a March 6 game, fixers placed nearly $200,000 in wagers at Rivers Casino in Philadelphia for the Dragons' opponent to cover an 11.5 point spread as underdogs, investigators said. Blakeney scored only 11 points and the Dragons lost by 19.
Hennen, known as "Sugar Shane," allegedly worked with Blakeney to fix multiple Dragons games before their small crew turned to NCAA basketball and began to recruit dozens of players and people close to them.
"They picked these men because they were well-connected in the world of college basketball," Metcalf said. "They knew the players. Many of them were players themselves. They're alumni. They were trainers. They were recruiters. They were networkers. They were people of influence. And because of that influence, they added gravitas and legitimacy to the scheme."
In a statement Thursday, NCAA President Charlie Baker said the organization has opened sports betting integrity investigations into approximately 40 student-athletes from 20 schools over the past year. Several investigations are ongoing, while others have stripped players of NCAA eligibility for betting on their own performances.
"The (NCAA) has and will continue to aggressively pursue sports betting violations in college athletics using a layered integrity monitoring program," Baker said.
Three of the college players named in Thursday's indictment transferred to Philadelphia schools after their alleged involvement in the scheme at other college programs. Micawber Etienne, 24, a former DePaul University player who transferred to La Salle last season, is accused of working with fixers to recruit teammates to underperform during three DePaul games during the 2023-24 season.
"Just talked to them it's a lock ima call you after practice," Etienne allegedly said in a text message to a fixer, assuring his teammates' cooperation, before a DePaul game against Georgetown University.
After each of the three DePaul games, prosecutors said the fixer traveled to Chicago to make cash payments to Micawber and his teammates.
Elijah Gray, 22, a former player at Fordham University who later transferred to Temple University, also allegedly communicated with fixers to manipulate the outcome of a matchup between Fordham and Duquesne University in February 2024.
And C.J. Hines, 23, who played at Alabama State University before transferring to Temple, allegedly worked with fixers to ensure that Southern Mississippi University would cover the spread against Alabama State during their game in December 2024.
Etienne and Hines were not charged in the indictment unsealed in Philadelphia, but it notes they have been charged separately in another federal investigation of sports betting violations.
"When criminals pollute the purity of sports by manipulating competition, it doesn't just imperil the integrity of sports betting markets," Metcalf said. "It imperils the integrity of sport itself and everything that sports represent to us."
The defendants in Thursday's indictment face charges including bribery and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Metcalf said the bribery charges carry a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison and the fraud charges carry a maximum of up to 20 years.
The investigation adds to a wave of cases in the past year uncovering alleged sports betting violations by both professional and college athletes.
NBA player Terry Rozier was charged in October as part of a sweeping federal investigation of gambling cases, including allegations that Rozier faked an injury and gave gamblers insider information on his status for wagering purposes. Hennen and Fairely, who were charged in the NCAA betting scheme Thursday, also were charged in the sports betting case involving Rozier.
Chauncey Billups, the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, was charged the same day as Rozier for allegedly helping to rig underground poker games backed by the Mafia.
In baseball, Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were arrested in November for allegedly conspiring with gamblers who made prop bets on individual pitches.
Metcalf said authorities will continue to investigate and monitor activity in the multibillion dollar sports betting industry. Its rampant growth has opened doors for opportunists to exploit sportsbooks and the public in ways that evade detection, he said.
"We're not going to sit here on the sidelines while this regulatory landscape figures itself out," Metcalf said.
