Former Auburn basketball assistant coach, Chuck Person, has reportedly plead guilty to a conspiracy charge. Person, who was previously accused of accepting bribes and encouraging Auburn basketball players to sign with certain financial advisors and business managers, is the latest NCAA figure to be caught up in the NCAA corruption/Bribery scandal and trial.
As we have continued to report, the scandal, which concluded in a trail and convictions, involved Adidas executive Jim Gatto, Adidas contractor Merl Code, and sports business manager Christian Dawkins. Each were convicted of facilitating six-figure payments to NCAA basketball players and their families in exchange for promises that the players would enroll at Adidas sponsored NCAA Division I schools and later would hire Dawkins as an NBA agent.
Previously, Person plead not guilty to six felony charges related to the NCAA Corruption/Bribery scandal, including charges of bribery, solicitation of bribes, wire fraud, and travel act conspiracy. In a letter to U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska and assistant U.S. attorneys Robert Boone and Aline Flodr, Person changed his plea. In his letter, Person wrote, “[i]t is the government’s understanding that the defendant Chuck Connors Person wishes to enter a change of plea in the above-captioned case.”
Person was scheduled to go to trial in June however, his guilty plea will make him the fourth assistant coach from a major NCAA basketball program, charged in the case, to change his plea. Like the other coaches, Person is likely to receive a plea deal where he will be sentenced to 24 to 30 months in prison.