First Posted: 3/24/2015
DETROIT — A former Lima Senior and University of Toledo basketball player was sentenced Tuesday to three years probation for his participation in a point-shaving scheme, The Associated Press reported.
Sammy Villegas is the first of seven former University of Toledo players to be sentenced in the case. He also was ordered to perform 100 hours community service.
“I would like to apologize to the University of Toledo,” Villegas said.
Villegas and other players at the University of Toledo took steps during games to influence the scores in a sports betting scheme.
Villegas, 32, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to influence sports contest by bribery. Two Detroit businessmen also were charged.
Villegas cooperated with authorities including helping them make cases against the other defendants in exchange for leniency.
The schemes occurred between 2004 and 2006. Another member of the UT basketball team introduced Villegas to a Detroit man who was a gambler who persuaded Villegas to participate in a point-shaving scheme that he, too, would be paid.
The scheme required Villegas, who played the position of guard, to alter his game to ensure the basketball team scored a certain number of points during a game. The points would depend on the point spread. Often it was to limit points by missing free throws, holding onto the ball so no one else could score, missing shots, or turning the ball over to the other team, according to court records.
Villegas also assisted the Detroit gambler in recruiting at least one other UT basketball player to participate in the point-shaving scheme, according to records.
In exchange, Villegas would be paid $300 to $400 for his participation in the scheme per game when the gambler won a wager. Villegas received up to $4,000 in the course of his relationship with the gambler and received other items such as free groceries, meals, hotel stays and a cellphone, according to court records.
The case dragged on for 10 years as the lead gambler planned to go to trial until he decided to plead guilty last year.
Villegas is now playing professional basketball for four months in Puerto Rico earning $18,000.
