While most of the defendants in the Iowa/Iowa State sports betting scandal last year pleaded guilty to lesser charges, four Iowa State athletes asked that charges be tossed. The four allege the investigation broke the law in collection of evidence.
Former football players Isaiah Lee, Jirehl Brock and Enyi Uwazurike and suspended wrestler Paniro Johnson filed the motion, according to their attorneys.
They faced identity theft, which is a felony, and tampering with records, a misdemeanor. Those who pleaded guilty did so to underage gambling and paid fines, so the state dropped identity theft charges in those cases. The identity theft resulted from registering accounts on apps under different names, most often a relative.
Attorneys contend there was no probable cause for the searches into online wagering activities.
They also allege a special agent for the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) violated the agreement with a geofencing tracker used to find places inside Iowa State athletic facilities where athletes made online bets. The agent relied on this data to identify the four and their credit card owners.
The motion said the agent had no warrant to use the software for the search, thus should be deemed unconstitutional. No Miranda rights were read either, according to the Associated Press.
Brian Sanger, the special agent for the DCI, testified he investigated over concerns of possible match fixing, though he had no evidence to back this up.
Investigators also claimed the online sports books were the focus of the inquiry, not the athletes, a claim that seems questionable after the criminal acts were filed.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety said it feels the approach will be held up in court.
