Fifteen months ago, security cameras in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency hotel near Los Angeles International Airport captured an unusual meeting: two men launching a sports management company and the family friend of a USC basketball player gathered around a small table with an undercover FBI agent.
The undercover agent, posing as an investor in the company, put an envelope stuffed with $5,000 on the table.
The government alleged in a complaint that the family friend, David Elliott, received the cash as a bribe to steer USC standout De'Anthony Melton to use the sports management company once he turned professional.