Lawyers for four Iowa State athletes who had been charged in a sports betting case said Monday that it was alarming that the commissioner of the Iowa Department of Public Safety expressed disappointment that prosecutors decided to drop the case.
A Story County judge granted the county attorney's office's motion Friday to dismiss all charges because the Criminal Investigation Division was found to have misused tracking software that detected mobile gambling apps opened on ISU sports facilities.
DPS Commissioner Stephan Bayens, whose office oversees the DCI, said in a statement Friday that prosecutors repeatedly told him and his staff that they believed the methods used in the investigation were legal.
“I understand why this investigation and the resulting charges have generated so much attention and strong opinions,” Bayens said. “Here in Iowa we love our college sports, myself included. If this situation had not involved college athletes, public perception might have been completely different.
“As law enforcement officers, we are sworn to uphold the law and we do so without exception, even when it is difficult. Throughout the investigation and subsequent prosecution, we continually review our actions and I fully support the investigation and the officers who conducted it. they did the work.”
Football players Isaiah Lee, Jirehl Brock and Enyi Uwazurike, and wrestler Paniro Johnson each faced one count of felony identity theft and one count of aggravated misdemeanor tampering with records. The four athletes were among about two dozen ISU and Iowa athletes criminally charged last year.
Most of the accused athletes pleaded guilty to underage gambling, paid fines, and had identity theft charges dropped.
The identity theft charges arose from athletes registering accounts on mobile sports betting apps under different names, usually a family member.
In response to Bayens' statement, attorneys Van Plumb and Matt Boles and the Sandy Law Firm said the commissioner's support for DCI's “unregulated use” of geolocation tracking software “to conduct criminal investigations without court order and without reasonable cause is deeply worrying.
DPS issued a statement on Jan. 31 saying it believed the investigation would withstand legal scrutiny. Defense attorneys maintain that was false because GeoComply, which produces the tracking software, days earlier had terminated DCI's access to the tool after a researcher violated the user agreement.
“The DPS's redoubling of its support for the DCI investigation is alarming, and its failure to disclose to the prosecution some of the aforementioned exculpatory information appears to have been sufficiently concerning that the DPS Office Story County dismisses its pending criminal cases against our clients.” defense attorneys said.
The software that discovered the open betting apps and ultimately identified the athletes was used even though there was never a complaint about illegal sports betting or match-fixing. The investigation resulted in criminal charges and he lost NCAA eligibility.
“The biggest tragedy here is the enormous impact on your privacy that law enforcement can exert when they are given unfettered access to technology to search and seize your electronic geolocation data and communications without even reasonable cause,” the lawyers said. defenders.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
