Meet the Pittsburgh man accused of being the ringleader of a basketball point-shaving scheme
A former Pittsburgher is accused of being the ringleader of a massive point-shaving scheme that has turned college basketball upside down.
But before that, Shane Hennen was a pool-hustler, a petty gambling fixer and suspected drug dealer in the Steel City. KDKA's Andy Sheehan traced the past of a man now known as "Sugar" and how his troubled life in Pittsburgh pointed to his future downfall.
Who is Shane Hennen?
On social media, he calls himself "Sugar Shane" a sport-betting swami with an uncanny knack for picking winners, dispensing hot tips for a fee while glamorizing his jet-setting lifestyle and holding wads of cash from his big scores on sports.
But now, federal prosecutors say Hennen is the fixer behind the biggest point-shaving scandal in history, accused of bribing 39 college players, corrupting 17 programs and fixing — or trying fix — 29 games to enrich himself and other gamblers.
"Mr. Hennen and these other leaders would bribe NCAA basketball players to the tune of $10,000 to $30,000 per game," U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said at a press conference. "The player would then agree to deliberately underperform in the game."
Shane Hennen, a Pittsburgh "street hustler"
The feds say he bet millions — hundreds of thousands of dollars on individual games he's accused of fixing. However, a history of cheating can be traced back to his days here in Pittsburgh, where court records show he engaged in drug dealing, pool hustling and other gambling schemes.
"He's a street hustler," attorney Mike DeRiso said.
Hennen is a 2003 graduate of Washington High School in Washington County. In 2006, officers with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police arrested him at the Comfort Inn on Banksville Road, where he had booked two adjoining rooms. In one room, he ran a dice game, officials say. In the other, he used a magnetic device to flip the dice to favorable combinations, cheating the players he had recruited, officials say. Pleading guilty to conspiracy, the judge gave him six months' probation.
Three years later, he got into a tussle outside a South Side nightclub with a former Duquesne Dukes basketball player, who accused him of cheating on a gambling debt. The argument spilled onto Wharton Street, where Hennen was accused of slicing the player's neck. The man survived, and Hennen pled guilty to aggravated assault and was sentenced to 18 to 36 months in prison.
But before his sentencing, he was also arrested on possession with intent to deliver 500 grams of cocaine. Rather than face additional jail time, he agreed to testify against his alleged accomplice. According to a transcript, under cross-examination by attorney Lee Rothman, Hennen admitted to drug dealing, gambling rip-offs, and hustling pool throughout the Northeast and Midwest.
DeRiso, who represented Hennen in the assault case, said he's long been on the con.
"He could sell you swamp land in the middle of the desert," he said.
Chinese Basketball Association fixing
After prison, Hennen moved to Las Vegas, where he haunted casinos as a professional gambler and established his online persona as "Sugar Shane Wins," promising riches to those who paid for his picks.
According to federal prosecutors, he moved to Philadelphia, where in 2022, he was accused of hatching the point shaving scheme with two others. Before it spread to the colleges, they're accused of fixing games in the Chinese Basketball Association, where they celebrated their early success.
"The scheme proved lucrative," Metcalf said. "Mr. Hennen, we allege, texted a confederate that the only things certain in life are 'death, taxes and Chinese basketball.'"
