Fixer in lucrative NCAA basketball betting scheme sentenced to 6 years in prison

Jalen Smith, 30, was sentenced in Philadelphia federal court on Tuesday to six years in prison for his role in a scheme to rig NCAA Division I basketball games. Smith pleaded guilty to bribery and wire fraud charges earlier this year.

According to ABC News (US), Smith played a central role in an elaborate point-fixing scheme that generated millions of dollars. Prosecutors stated that Smith recruited players to purposefully underperform during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons in exchange for large payments. This allowed bettors to wager against the players' teams, defrauding sportsbooks and other gamblers.

Yahoo Sports reported that Smith's activities took place between February 2024 and 2025. The sentencing is the first penalty resulting from an investigation into a network of professional gamblers and college players.

Brief written by urgent.news from Yahoo Sports, ABC News (US) — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.