10:04 am | June 6, 2019 | Go to Source | Author:
NEW YORK — A judge has sentenced a former assistant basketball coach at the University of Arizona to three months in prison for his role in a college hoops corruption scandal.
Emanuel “Book” Richardson received the sentence on Thursday in federal court in Manhattan.
Richardson had pleaded guilty earlier this year to accepting $20,000 in bribes from an aspiring business manager for pro athletes.
“When he was arrested, people were talking about him spending multiple years in jail,” Richardson’s attorney, Craig Mordock, told ESPN. “Based on the facts of this case and sentencing guidelines, he’s spending three months in jail. Anyway you look at it, it’s a complete failure for the government. Book Richardson basically fell on a land mine for the University of Arizona.”
The 46-year-old Richardson and three other assistant basketball coaches at major programs were charged in 2017 with abusing the trust of NBA-bound players by accepting bribes to steer them to favored managers and financial advisers.
A letter to the court from the University of Arizona said Richardson’s conduct had damaged the school’s reputation. It said the case could result in serious sanctions and penalties from the NCAA.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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