| | DETROIT -- The central figure in an investigation of the
University of Michigan basketball program will be allowed to plead
guilty to a gambling and a tax charge, his lawyer said.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit was filing charges against
Ed Martin, 66, of Detroit, in connection with an illegal numbers
game at Ford Motor Co.'s Rouge complex, his lawyer, Neil Fink, told
The Detroit News.
Martin and his son, Carlton Martin, waived their right to an
indictment, U.S. Attorney spokeswoman Gina Vitrano said Friday. That
means the U.S. Attorney will file the charges.
Carlton Martin -- also expected to be charged in connection with
the numbers operation -- will be allowed to plead guilty to the same
charges, Fink said. The two will face no more than 15 months each
in prison, he said.
As part of a plea agreement Martin signed last month, the
retired Ford electrician agreed to answer questions under oath
about his financial dealings with former Wolverines players, the
Detroit Free Press and The Ann Arbor News reported earlier.
Besides investigating whether Martin and his son led an
extensive gambling operation at Ford plants, FBI and Internal
Revenue Service agents have been looking into whether Martin gave
cash and gifts to former Michigan players.
Martin was banned from the men's basketball program in March
1997 after he became the focal point of a university investigation.
Results of that probe were reported to the NCAA, which issued only
minor sanctions against the program.
The internal investigation raised questions about Martin's relationships with former Michigan and current NBA players Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose and Robert Traylor.
Coach Steve Fisher was fired in October 1997, two days after a
Kansas law firm hired by the university to investigate the
basketball program issued a report calling into question Fisher's
role in arranging complimentary tickets for Martin.
In 1999, FBI and IRS agents simultaneously raided the homes of
Martin, his son and eight men said to be their associates. Agents
seized more than $22,000 in cash and boxes of detailed records from
Martin's home.
Federal authorities told Michigan officials that those records included payments to Wolverines basketball players, university President Lee
Federal and university officials declined to comment Thursday, the News said.
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