Detroit-Area Man Guilty Of Bribing Toledo Football, Basketball Players

By ED WHITE
Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) - A Detroit-area man has pleaded guilty to paying players to fix basketball and football games at the University of Toledo nearly a decade ago.

Ghazi "Gary" Manni also pleaded guilty Tuesday to paying bribes to fix horse races. And, in a third case, he pleaded guilty to food stamp fraud.

The Toledo case was filed in 2009 but has moved slowly in Detroit federal court. Seven former Toledo basketball and football players have pleaded guilty, along with Manni's gambling partner, Mitchell Karam. No one has been sentenced yet.

Manni admitted bribing Toledo players from 2004 to 2006 to influence scores, especially in basketball games. A court filing lists more than $300,000 in bets, but there were more.

The 57-year-old Manni faces a prison sentence of nearly six years. He's been in custody since summer 2013 and will get credit for any time behind bars.

Two former Toledo basketball players pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy, Keith Triplett and Kashif Payne. Another ex-basketball player, Anton Currie, pleaded guilty in November.

Three former running backs, Adam Cuomo, Harvey "Scooter" McDougle Jr. and Quinton Broussard, pleaded guilty in 2011. Former basketball player Sammy Villegas was the first.

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