Testimony wrapped in the federal government’s trial against Adidas executive James Gatto, business manager Christian Dawkins and former amateur league director Merl Code on Tuesday. The jury heard closing arguments and should be deliberating on Thursday.
The case originated in the U.S. Attorney’s office after a focused FBI investigation. The criminal case asserts that the defendants committed fraud by funneling money to families of top high school basketball prospects in exchange for their commitments to play college basketball at schools affiliated with the Adidas brand. A key component of the government’s case is that the schools and their personnel did not know about the payments, and as a result, accepted players who were no longer NCAA-eligible amateurs.