Sen. Joe Abruzzo to FL Attorney General Pam Bondi: investigate NCAA 'abuse of power' in UM case
Read more here:
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nake...=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter#storylink=cpy or see
full text below
Doing the form above is fine. However, one shall be concerned that Pam Bondi is a graduate of our Arch enemy UiF gaytors. Let's not kid ourselves that when FSU got caught cheating for all those classes with tutors taking exams for athletes, etc, many of us relished seeing FSU lose forfeit all those tainted victories. If you were in charge, would you really want to do something for our rivals semenholes to turn around and kick our butts later? Exactly!
The Herald Greg Cote reported that his sources told him that there was a settlement deal on the table but TWO COLLEGE PRESIDENTS and members of the Key committee said NO, **** no to settlement deal with Miami! Why? They're probably from UFLorida and USC, and got a thing for UM. Great, let's do the notes/complaints online; it's easy.
Yet, we can do much more. Write a letter to both State AG Pam Bondi and the AG for U.S. Eric Holder. Afterall, it is the U.S. Bankruptcy Court that got use and abused by the NCAA. When writing the letter, you could all use the same talking points as with our State Senator's letter below, or you could just cut & paste it and drop it in the mail to both State and U.S. AGs. One point you can also note, particularly to AG Eric Holder is the wide disparity in how the NCAA doles out punishment to UM coaches. All coaches that went to SEC schools got no punishment or little punishments (Except for Aubrey Hill that had to supervise and coach his accuser& immunity-laced player at UF) while other coaches got stiff allegations to dog them around. And for some of you so inclined not to look exclusively at the SEC angle of disparity in doling allegations & punishment, you could point out the two ex-coaches that got ZERO [notice of] allegations are two non-black coaches, including Bama OL Jeff Stoutland, who bolted to the NFL right before the NOA letter was imminent.
GO CANES!
It's all about the U!
Mailing address
Office of Attorney General
State of Florida
The Capitol PL-01
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050
US AG:
By Mail
Correspondence to the Department, including the Attorney General, may be sent to:
Office of the Attorney General Eric Holder
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
OFFICE OF SENATOR JOSEPH ABRUZZO 25th District THE FLORIDA SENATE
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1100
COMMITTEES: Commerce and Tourism, Vice Chair, Environmental Preservation and Conservation, Vice Chair, Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, Appropriations Subcommittee on Finance and Tax Communications, Energy, and Public Utilities, Military Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security, JOINT COMMITTEE: Joint Legislative Auditing Committee, Chair
February 20th, 2013
To The Honorable Pam Bondi
Office of Attorney General
State of Florida
The Capitol PL-01
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050
Re: Investigation of the National Collegiate Athletic Association
Dear General Bondi:
I respectfully request that your office begin an investigation into the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) actions during its probe of the University of Miami’s athletic program.
NCAA Enforcement Staff violated its own rules and engaged in corrupt behavior in an attempt to manufacture misdeeds against the University of Miami. In so doing, the NCAA has demonstrated a lack of institutional control and may have engaged in unfair trade practices in violation of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA), Chapter 501, Florida Statutes. Since your office is the enforcing authority of FDUTPA, I am requesting that the NCAA’s admitted wrongdoing be investigated immediately before the NCAA’s witch hunt against the University of Miami causes further damage.
Among other acts of wrongdoing, the NCAA was so desperate to gather evidence against the University of Miami that it made improper payments to a convicted con artist and his lawyer for information that it was not allowed to obtain. The NCAA, which does not have subpoena power, paid thousands of dollars to the con artist’s lawyer to gain subpoenaed witness testimony in a bankruptcy case, so that the forbidden information could be used in its investigation. Not only does this abuse the bankruptcy process, but it clearly circumvented the limits of the NCAA’s authority. All of these improper activities occurred in South Florida, within the jurisdiction of your economic crimes division.
In addition, the NCAA advised potential witnesses that their silence would be interpreted as validating the claims of the criminal, Ponzi schemer Nevin Shapiro. This unethical behavior and lack of due process by the NCAA should not be tolerated in our State.
The NCAA’s admittedly corrupt investigation has now dragged on for more than two years, and the University of Miami has suffered through this abuse of power. While the NCAA has been paying off a criminal and his lawyer for forbidden fruit, the University of Miami has tried to work cooperatively with the NCAA and has even self-imposed serious sanctions that included a two-year bowl ban and a conference football championship game.
I strongly feel that the NCAA’s abuse of power and payoffs must be scrutinized to the fullest extent, especially considering the NCAA’s role as a regulatory institution of more than 400,000 students across the nation. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Senator Joseph Abruzzo
cc: Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General of the United States
