College basketball fixer Jalen Smith sentenced to six years in prison
A Philadelphia federal court jailed admitted match-fixer Jalen Smith for 72 months as prosecutors pursue a sprawling point-shaving conspiracy spanning US college basketball and the Chinese Basketball Association.
Jalen Smith, who admitted orchestrating a scheme to rig college basketball games, was sentenced to six years in federal prison on Tuesday, according to iGaming Business.
US District Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro imposed the 72-month term in Philadelphia, towards the lower end of a federal guideline range of 70 to 87 months, and ordered Smith to pay roughly $1.1 million in restitution.
Smith, 30, told the court he accepted responsibility for his actions. "My decisions have consequences and I accept all of them," he said before sentencing.
Federal prosecutors charged Smith in January over a bribery and point-shaving operation that ran for two years and, according to the case, implicated at least 20 players across more than a dozen programmes. Games involving teams coached by national-title winners Rick Pitino and Dusty May were among those targeted.
Court records show players recruited into the conspiracy were typically paid between $10,000 and $30,000 by the syndicate. Smith's attorney, Rocco Cipparone, said his client was not involved in an earlier, related scheme tied to the Chinese Basketball Association, despite being named lead defendant in the broader indictment.
That CBA scheme centres on former Chicago Bulls player Antonio Blakeney, who now plays for Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel. While with the Jiangsu Dragons during the 2022-2023 CBA season, Blakeney allegedly tipped conspirators that he and a teammate would sit out a 15 March 2023 fixture against the Zhejiang Golden Bulls, prosecutors say. The syndicate placed a six-figure bet on the Golden Bulls, who won 121-80.
Prosecutors allege a portion of the group's wagering ran through Pennsylvania casinos, including BetRivers Philadelphia, where $198,300 was staked on a single Blakeney-related game. Co-defendant Shane Hennen allegedly texted a collaborator that the outcome was as certain as "Death, taxes and Chinese basketball."
Blakeney has not been extradited to the United States and remains under contract with Hapoel Tel Aviv through 2029. On 8 October he top-scored with 30 points as his side lost to Valencia in EuroLeague competition. A 2026 complaint alleges Blakeney was paid around $200,000 by the syndicate, with the sum left in a storage unit he kept in Florida.
The conspiracy later moved into US college basketball, with Smith and Blakeney accused of recruiting players from more than half a dozen Division I programmes in February 2024 alone, court filings show.
DePaul became a focal point after the pair allegedly brought in forward Micawber Etienne, a UCLA transfer, who recruited three further teammates. Over three weeks, DePaul players are alleged to have underperformed in three games, including a 104-77 defeat to St John's on 5 March in which the Blue Demons trailed 54-28 at the half, well beyond the bookmakers' 15-point first-half line.
Records show Hennen, co-defendant Marves Fairley and associates staked $52,395 on St John's covering that half-time spread shortly before Pitino's side pulled away with a 30-6 run. Two other named defendants, Jalen Terry and Da'Sean Nelson, scored a combined four points for DePaul in the first half.
Smith's sentencing opens a wider run of court proceedings expected to continue into next year, with former professional athletes, bookmakers and poker players among those due to face related charges as authorities continue to examine integrity failures across US sports betting markets.