Bert Neff, an Indiana businessman whom federal authorities described as a professional gambler, was sentenced Monday to eight months in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in a betting scandal involving a 2023 SEC baseball game, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Alabama.
Neff pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charges in March after federal authorities accused him of destroying evidence, witness tampering and providing false statements to the FBI during an investigation into suspicious betting on a baseball game between Alabama and LSU on April 28, 2023.
The investigation ultimately led to the firing of then-Crimson Tide baseball coach Brad Bohannon. Multiple sources told ESPN that Neff, after communicating with Bohannon about a lineup change, attempted to bet on LSU winning the game in question. Bohannon, whose name is not listed in court documents, was fired by Alabama in early May 2023.
Federal authorities accused Neff in court documents of sharing information from an associate identified as “Individual-1” about an injury to the intended starting pitcher. Neff, according to the court documents, shared a screenshot of the messages with several associates. Four players connected to Neff also placed bets on the game, according to the documents.
Alabama pulled its starting pitcher before the game, which LSU won 8-6.
“Bert Eugene Neff is a professional gambler,” Edward Canter, an assistant U.S. attorney, wrote in the sentencing memo in the case. “Faced with a federal grand jury investigation, he worked to game the system. The defendant destroyed evidence, tampered with witnesses, and provided false statements to the FBI. He did not do this once. He did this on dozens of occasions and did so for the better part of a year.”
An attorney appointed for Neff did not respond to a request for comment from ESPN.
