NEW YORK (AP) — A con man named Louis Martin "Marty" Blazer III may have failed in his scheme to make low-budget movies with money swiped from pro athletes, but he has now succeeded in stealing part of the spotlight in a scandal that has shaken college basketball to its core.
Federal authorities revealed this week that Blazer was the wily informant — referred to in criminal complaints only as CW-1 "cooperating witness-1" — who played a central role in a federal bribery investigation of assistant coaches at four top-tier basketball schools.
"I'm aware of people who are willing to do this," federal prosecutors say Blazer told authorities in 2014 when he agreed to wear a wire and buddy up to coaches who took covert payments in exchange for encouraging top-flight NBA prospects to choose a particular school, agent or financial adviser.