The man who conspired with a former Alabama baseball coach and attempted to place a six-figure wager at an Ohio sportsbook received an eight-month prison sentence on Monday for his role in the 2023 college baseball betting scandal.
Bert Neff Jr., an Indiana businessman and known gambler, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release, according to an ESPN report.
Brad Bohannon, the former coach, was not named by the Northern District of Alabama US Attorney's Office in court documents. However, on April 28, 2023, “Individual-1” provided Neff with information on the availability status of Alabama’s starting pitcher before a regular-season game against LSU.
Failed cover-up
Neff allegedly tried to cover up his involvement in the scandal when the FBI investigated the suspicious betting activity.
“Faced with a federal grand jury investigation, he worked to game the system,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Canter wrote in a memorandum for the case.
“The defendant destroyed evidence, tampered with witnesses, and provided false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He did not do this once. He did it on dozens of occasions, and he did so for the greater part of a year.”
Neff pleaded guilty in March to obstruction of justice charges.
Message from Bohannon
Neff was reportedly seen on surveillance at BetMGM Sportsbook across from the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati communicating with Bohannon shortly before the game.
The NCAA reported earlier this year that Bohannon’s text to Neff read: “HAMMER…(Student-athlete) is out for sure … Lemme know when I can tell (the opposing team) … Hurry.”
According to court documents, Neff shared a screenshot of Bohannon’s message with four other gamblers, who also bet on the game, which LSU won 8-6.
Fallout at Alabama
Neff attempted to bet $100,000 on LSU, an especially large wager for the college baseball regular-season market and more than the retail sports betting operator had taken in all month.
The sportsbook would only accept a $15,000 bet, and Neff told sportsbook employees that LSU “was for sure going to win” and “if you only knew what I knew.”
The wager was flagged and reported to U.S. Integrity. The Ohio Casino Control Commission removed Alabama baseball from the betting board while multiple sportsbooks followed suit.
Alabama later fired Bohannon after his role in the scandal was uncovered. In February, he was hit with a 15-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA following an investigation.
