University of Toledo Football and Basketball Point Shaving
Some of the most reliable sources for information that a game has been fixed are the handicappers and bookmakers operating legally in Las Vegas. It was consultants for the Las Vegas casinos and sports books which first identified the betting irregularities which resulted from the Arizona State points shaving scandal, and they were the source of the initial investigations into allegations of point shaving at the University of Toledo.
Three University of Toledo running backs provided a gambler from the Detroit area information regarding the team. The gambler, Ghazi Manni, also bribed the student-athletes to take action on the field to alter the results of football games through the 2005 and 2006 seasons, including the 2005 GMAC Bowl, played on December 21, 2005 in Mobile, Alabama. In that game a Toledo running back, Quinton Broussard, fumbled the ball in the first half. In 2011 Broussard entered a plea of guilty to charges resulting from the point shaving scheme, admitting that the fumble was deliberate.
Manni worked with a conspirator besides those on the University of Toledo football team, Mitchell Karam. The pair also bribed University of Toledo basketball players in another point shaving scheme concurrent with that of the football team. They were also eventually charged with fixing horse races by bribing jockeys. Over the course of the football point shaving scheme Broussard received over $2,000 for his contributions to throwing games.
Broussard and the other running backs involved, Adam Cuomo and Harvey McDougle Jr, all entered pleas of guilty and were placed on probation for conspiracy. Manni first recruited Cuomo for the scheme, and Cuomo recruited his two teammates to join. At least one other player was approached by Cuomo and refused to participate in the point shaving.
Manni made over $700,000 over the course of the point shaving schemes affecting Toledo football and basketball games, and was sentenced to 70 months in prison for his crimes. Karam was sentenced to two years. Both Karam and Manni were believed to have links to the Detroit area Giacalone mob crew, but none of the known associates were charged in the University of Toledo scandal.
