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Two defendants in college basketball’s corruption trial were found guilty Wednesday on bribery-related charges.
Christian Dawkins, an aspiring sports agent/business manager, was convicted on two charges — bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery. He had faced six separate charges. Merl Code, a former Adidas consultant, was found guilty on one of four charges — bribery conspiracy.
The verdict came after a two-week federal trial in New York City that involved alleged payoffs to prominent players and coaches in order to steer prospects to certain financial advisors and handlers. Jury deliberations lasted three days.
Sentencing will be handed down for Code and Dawkins at a later date by U.S. District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos.
Dawkins took the stand and claimed he never paid a bribe.
In March, Dawkins and Code were sentenced to six months in prison after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in an October trial. Former Adidas executive James Gatto received a nine-month sentence in that trial.
Dawkins and Code had been accused of facilitating bribes to multiple assistant coaches, including four — Arizona’s Emanuel “Book” Richardson, Auburn’s Chuck Person, Oklahoma State’s Lamont Evans and Southern California’s Tony Bland — who have pleaded guilty to bribery conspiracy without a trail and are scheduled for sentencing later this month.
–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)