Second in an ongoing series
A joint report released last week by three Florida law enforcement agencies reported potential misdeeds by key FSU athletic officials. The criminal investigation into the FSU athletic department was initiated following felony charges of grand theft, petit theft and forgery made against former Florida State quarterback Adrian McPherson. The report raised new questions over the course of action taken by officials in the FSU athletic department.
The investigation, entitled "Operation Coin Toss," produced evidence that Florida State officials -- specifically Andy Urbanic, associate athletic director for football, and Bob Minnix, associate athletic director for compliance-- not only had knowledge of McPherson's alleged gambling and credit card fraud six months before the quarterback's arrest, but also made an effort to conceal the allegations from the media and the public.
Jeffery Inderhees, an FSU student and football equipment manager now facing felony bookmaking charges, told investigators in a sworn statement that he visited Urbanic's office in late May or early June of 2002 and presented evidence that McPherson had purchased shoes with Inderhees' girlfriend's credit card. He also suggested that McPherson had placed bets on sporting events -- a direct violation of NCAA bylaw 10.3, prohibiting sports wagering. Urbanic dismissed these claims in front of Inderhees, according to Inderhees' testimony, but did report them to Minnix, a career investigator who spent 20 years as head of compliance for the NCAA before joining the FSU staff. Minnix then called Inderhees into his office the following day. Inderhees said in a Dec. 4, 2002 sworn statement that, in his meeting with Minnix, he reiterated the allegations he made to Urbanic.
Inderhees told investigators that Minnix wanted to contact McPherson's bookie "to get this resolved as quickly and as soon as possible," and that Minnix said "it was something that we couldn't leak out to the newspapers or the television because of the high status that Adrian had."
The report also contains a sworn interview with Minnix conducted on Dec. 2. In that interview, Minnix acknowledged speaking with "a football manager who was complaining that Adrian owed him some money." Minnix then explained that "if I wrote it down that it might be subject to somebody reading it somewhere along the way, quite frankly."
Under Florida's Sunshine Law, the official records of all state employees are open to the public.
Though Minnix decided against keeping official records, he did bring the matter to the attention of FSU athletic director Dave Hart and football coach Bobby Bowden.
When questioned by investigators Jan. 14, 2003, Bowden admitted that he too had heard the allegations of gambling well in advance of the recent report. When asked about his prior knowledge of the situation, Bowden replied in the affirmative, saying, "Yes, I did pick up rumors of that ... in May or June."
Neither Bowden nor Minnix could be reached for further comment. Urbanic declined to make a statement and instead directed The Cavalier Daily to Florida State general counsel Betty Steffens.
According to Steffens, it was then-Florida State president Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte who called for the task force that investigated allegations against McPherson for gambling and against the athletic department for a possible cover-up. That criminal investigation resulted in two felony bookmaking charges -- against Inderhees and former FSU student Derek Delach -- and one misdemeanor gambling charge against McPherson. The scope of the investigation has thus far been relegated to the criminal and university levels. There still is no public word over whether the NCAA will take any punitive action.
"I'm not aware of any NCAA involvement," Steffens said. "I don't believe we've had any indication from the NCAA that we're under investigation."
Steffens stressed that, as far as the conduct of Florida State athletic officials is concerned, the matter is an internal one.
"At the university, we have an inspector general who has been commissioned to give a report of how the university handled its responsibilities," she said. "We're looking at it as an institution and our responsibilities as a university first."
The inspector general's report is expected to be completed in mid- to late- May and will be released as public record. Florida State is not anticipated to take further action until this report is released.
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