Former financial manager Marty Blazer, who spearheaded an FBI investigation into bribery in college basketball that led to sweeping criminal charges and convictions and multiple NCAA investigations, died Monday at his home near Pittsburgh.
Findlay Township police wrote in an email that Louis Martin “Marty” Blazer III, 53, died of natural causes, but declined to provide more information. Blazer is survived by his wife and three of his children.
Securities and Exchange Commission officials began investigating Blazer in 2013 over allegations that he defrauded five clients, including professional athletes, of more than $2 million, and used that money to invest in failed film and music ventures. .
During that investigation, Blazer also admitted to paying college athletes at several universities to secure them as clients when they turned pro, which is a violation of NCAA rules. According to documents filed in federal court, Blazer agreed to work with the FBI to delve into the world of financial advisors, agents, clothing companies and coaches who direct athletes to specific schools, companies or brands through bribes.
Blazer's information, cooperation and testimony in the investigation helped the government secure 10 convictions for crimes related to organizing and paying bribes to college athletes, their family members or associates, and coaches. This landed an Adidas executive and two associates in prison, along with the sentencing of four assistant coaches, two of whom received short prison sentences.
The criminal investigation also sparked a wide-ranging NCAA investigation of about a dozen Division I programs and led directly or indirectly to the firing or discipline of multiple coaches, including LSU's Will Wade, Arizona's Sean Miller and Louisville's Rick Pitino. and sanctions against several schools. .
Thanks to his cooperation in the investigation, and with the support of federal prosecutors and the NCAA, Blazer received a lenient sentence (one year of probation) in February 2020 after pleading guilty in September 2017 to a series of charges, including securities charges. fraud, electronic fraud, aggravated identity theft and making false statements and documents. He was also ordered to pay about $1.56 million in restitution to clients he defrauded.
Before his death, Blazer spoke to ESPN about plans to turn his role in the scandal into a film and his proposed podcast series to accompany it. In 2022, Amazon Studios and George Clooney's Smokehouse Pictures acquired the film rights to Blazer's book, “Hot Dog Money: Inside the Biggest Scandal in the History of College Sports,” written by Guy Lawson.
