$EC Schools Paid 2015 LB Recruit a Combined $32,000
Leo Lewis, a 2015 LB recruit, was paid by Ole Miss & Mississippi St to come to their respective schools. He ended up signing with Miss St and is cooperating with the NCAA in its investigation of Ole Miss. He was granted conditional immunity in exchange for his cooperation; however, he's admitted that his current team, the one he ended up signing with, illegally paid him as well. I can't imagine that this is going to end well.
https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2017/8/25/16199394/leo-lewis-…
https://www.seccountry.com/sec/mississppi-state-lb-leo-lewis-received-2…
The money quotes:
Lewis says he took $10,000 cash from an Ole Miss booster, he could only recall the name Allen, the day before signing day. “He told the group (NCAA investigators, his lawyers, and Ole Miss lawyers and reps) he had never intended on signing with Ole Miss and that as he took the payment, he was still deciding between LSU and Mississippi State,” Godfrey says. “Lewis was then pressed by a lawyer for Ole Miss as to why he took the money.”
‘I just wanted the money,'” he said. “‘Cause I needed it … We was moving to a house, and I actually had my daughter. My dad had just went to prison. Uh yeah, so needed it, so I took it. [I] asked for it, and I took it.'”
"Godfrey’s report also states that an audio tape exists in which Lewis’ mother, Tina Henderson, “allegedly told Farrar (Barney Farrar, Ole Miss staff member at the time) that she had received multiple cash offers for Lewis, including $650,000 from LSU and $80,000 from Mississippi State.”
August 25th, 2017 at 1:52 PM ^
Must not've been a very good one.
August 25th, 2017 at 2:28 PM ^
Classic reply to first reply. This is discussed in the "things that annoy you on MGoBlog" thread.
August 25th, 2017 at 2:37 PM ^
suprise anybody?!?!? Wait--was Coach Beilein just voted most "play by the rules" coach in college basketball..... thats the way we do it at michigan!!! it just pisses me off that the sec and the other conferences cheats and the ncaa does NOTHING.... whatever....
August 25th, 2017 at 3:42 PM ^
We only know this story because their investigators gave the kid immunity for his testimony.
One thing I know for sure, whatever the Ole Miss penalties are, people will complain. Either they were too lenient or they made an example out of Ole Miss, but would never punish the big boys in the SEC.
August 25th, 2017 at 5:12 PM ^
It's not the fact that the NCAA does nothing that bothers me. It's the fact that the media continues to fellate the SEC when everyone knows this stuff is going on down there.
August 25th, 2017 at 6:14 PM ^
PAWWWWWWL.
August 25th, 2017 at 1:44 PM ^
and crime allowances.
August 25th, 2017 at 1:45 PM ^
Love this.
August 25th, 2017 at 1:45 PM ^
I predict there will be literally no punishment for anyone because of this. Except the poor kid who took the money. The NCAA might crucify him...
August 25th, 2017 at 1:49 PM ^
I wonder what the IRS has to say about this. The govt has a funny way of blowing up everything.
August 25th, 2017 at 1:49 PM ^
went to the Ozarks and started a titty club. money is cleeeean
August 25th, 2017 at 1:52 PM ^
You have to hope the IRS gets involved. They'll find all of that money. Hopefully they won't stop at those two schools.
August 25th, 2017 at 1:57 PM ^
It was a "gift". Not taxable to the recipient and no reporting requirement for the recipient.
August 25th, 2017 at 2:07 PM ^
This is correct. You can receive up to $10,000 in gift and not have to report it.
August 25th, 2017 at 2:29 PM ^
Buncha ball-washin' bastards!
August 25th, 2017 at 3:21 PM ^
Recall that Hadley comes into some cash from a dead relative he barely knew. Upon overhearing Hadley complain to a coworker about the taxes he will have to pay, Andy suggests that Hadley take the money and give it to his wife as an untaxable gift.
If I receive $10k in income, but then give that $10k to my wife as a gift, the IRS will most certainly tax my income. They will not tax the gift, but that doesn't protect me from the income tax. It just means I don't have to pay taxes twice.
So, should Andy Dufresne's tax advice really help here? Because I always thought that was weird, I eventually got around to googling it.
One interesting thing I have read is that Andy knew this to be true, and also knew that Hadley's dead relative probably was not so rich that an estate tax would come into play. So, he actually fooled Hadley into thinking his tax/advice knowledge was necessary, when in fact he was not going to pay any taxes on anything regardless.
Quick/brave thinking on Andy's part:
Hadley: Can't believe I have to pay taxes on this free money.
Andy: Fool. He doesn't have to pay anything...I could tell him that, but he's the second worst (second to Norton) human being on the planet, so screw him.
Andy: Hm. On second thought, maybe I can convince him that he is correct that he would have to pay taxes without using some clever banking trick that only I know.
I always thought that he *helped* Hadley, and just did it because of his general good nature and eagerness to solve problems. But it actually appears as though Andy, in an instant, devised a plan to *fool* Hadley to get in the good graces of management at Shawshank. Andy Dufresne is one of the greatest heroes in any story. The other elements of his escape are impressive, but he has literally nothing but time to plan and engineer it. This instant is actually his most impressive moment, IMO.
August 25th, 2017 at 4:27 PM ^
You MAY have spent too much time thinking about this. :-)
August 25th, 2017 at 5:05 PM ^
This may be one of my favorite posts I've read. Also I've never really thought of that clever scheme, but I did have the same question.
August 25th, 2017 at 5:12 PM ^
coming from Mitch Cumstein, especially.
August 26th, 2017 at 1:14 PM ^
or '40 when that movie was set? probably not the same.
August 26th, 2017 at 1:06 PM ^
post length correlates to username length
August 25th, 2017 at 2:17 PM ^
Almost correct. Per Forbes, totally separate from the lifetime gift exemption amount is the annual gift tax exclusion amount. It's $14,000 for 2017, stuck at that level since 2014. You can give away $14,000 to as many individuals as you'd like. Also, a husband and wife can each make $14,000 gifts.
August 25th, 2017 at 2:11 PM ^
The $10k would be, but isn't the kid well over the cumulative amount? Or am I way off?
August 25th, 2017 at 2:21 PM ^
The amount is looked at from the gift giver's perspective and not the recipient's. Here, no gift giver gave in excess of the annual exclusion, which is $14,000 for the year in which the payments were made. The question, however, is did the bagman give the money without expecting to receive something of value in return?
August 25th, 2017 at 2:33 PM ^
stating it was gift had to be filled out and filed with the IRS for it to be considered a legal "gift"
August 25th, 2017 at 3:34 PM ^
It wasn't a gift. It was payment for services and taxable.
August 25th, 2017 at 3:38 PM ^
Exactly. No way this was made out of detached and disinterested generosity.
August 25th, 2017 at 3:39 PM ^
The painting was a gift, Todd... I'm taking it with me.
August 25th, 2017 at 2:54 PM ^
The IRS couldn't care less as long as the money is properly reported. The gift rules are actually pretty generous too. This isn't an illegal activity, it's just against NCAA rules.
August 25th, 2017 at 4:16 PM ^
Great, then I can hire contractors to perform work and just "gift" them a payment so there is no income tax, right? Wrong.
August 25th, 2017 at 9:04 PM ^
Well yeah that way is wrong.
But if you leave your front door open, then you can't be expected to stop "volunteers" from "spontaneously" doing things for you.
August 26th, 2017 at 1:05 AM ^
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act you are required to pay at least the federal minimum wage to anyone who you "suffer or permit" to perform work for you.
August 25th, 2017 at 2:02 PM ^
If the NCAA reneges on its investigator's promise, that would set a terrible precedent that would make it more difficult to obtain cooperation in future investigations.
NCAA investigator "Sheridan went through a series of formal statements for the record; Lewis was immune from losing his NCAA eligibility for anything he might have done as a college football player or as a recruit '... so long as you provide complete, truthful, and accurate information,' Sheridan said." https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2017/8/25/16199394/leo-lewis-…
August 25th, 2017 at 2:12 PM ^
The fact that we know as much as we do sets a bad precedent. I would imagine that the next kid will think twice before talking with the NCAA. This type of information should never have been allowed to slip out.
If you want people to talk, you owe it to them to protect them.
August 25th, 2017 at 7:59 PM ^
1) Protect them against what?
2) Is it better to have sanctions handed down without the underlying info. available to the public? Seems that the facts would have to be made public at some point, although that point might be later in the process than was the case here.
August 26th, 2017 at 11:05 AM ^
When I say protect them, I simply mean that we as a general public really don't need to know who the person was. The details of what was allegedly given is fine.
Maybe I am wrong. Maybe we are entitled to know every detail. I do not believe the NCAA will be able to get others to talk in the future if they know that their name will be thrown out to the general public.
Just my opinion on how the NCAA can use this type of tactic to uncover details in the future.
August 25th, 2017 at 2:07 PM ^
The NCAA investigator should've smacked Ole Miss' attorney too. Never mind everything else, just ask the kid why he took it. Why he took it? Are you fucking kidding me?
August 25th, 2017 at 3:08 PM ^
the NCAA is the worst. Asking why a poor college kid took $??? gee I wonder why! lot's of kids would do the same, athlete or no
August 25th, 2017 at 8:03 PM ^
Oh, good grief. The NCAA didn't ask that. The lawyer from Ole MIss asked the question.
August 25th, 2017 at 1:48 PM ^
all this MS news is causing me to wonder what Gary Danielson will say about it this fall? I don't pay any attention to Finebaum and have given up on ESPN's general reportage ability, but I do actually watch the weekly SEC game on CBS, and I've always been put off how Danielson and the studio guys go on and on about how great everything always is in SEC country. I am guessing Archie Manning won't be back on air for awhile.
August 25th, 2017 at 2:09 PM ^
correct.
Danielson of course knows in great detail what goes on behind the facade in college football.
OTOH, CBS wants viewers and ratings for its SEC games, and honest jounalistic integrity that calls out the SEC for its bagmen, etc., is just not going to happen. Not part of the business model.
Danielson' job is to present the games in a way that perpetuates the mythology of the SEC and college football more generally. And if that means pretending he hears, sees, knows nothing about anything, well.....that is part of the job.
August 25th, 2017 at 1:48 PM ^
I could not handle $10,000+ in cash at 18.
I also could not have handled a child either.
August 25th, 2017 at 1:52 PM ^
not as an investigation that will crater either program, but only for the joy it brings me when actual evidence or witness shows that what we all know is happening, is happening.
August 25th, 2017 at 1:52 PM ^
because what in the world is that booster going to do about it other than get pissed? He can't say anything without submarining the entire program he's trying to support.
August 25th, 2017 at 2:02 PM ^
If you remember the bag men article, the bag payments often didn't seem to come with strings attached; they were just the cost of "staying in the game," much the same way text messages and phone calls are for coaches in recruiting.
August 25th, 2017 at 2:14 PM ^
But in this case he admitted he already eliminated Ole Miss from consideration. He was down to LSU and Mississippi State when he ASKED for the bag payment.
August 25th, 2017 at 2:26 PM ^
That's what makes it awesome.
August 25th, 2017 at 1:52 PM ^
SEC being SEC.