Originally posted by DevilDJ:
unx alum Woodall is at it again...
Charges dropped against tutor in unc agent case
Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall said Thursday that his office was dropping charges against Jennifer Wiley Thompson, one of the five people accused of violating the state's agent-athlete inducement law in providing gifts and money to football players at the University of North carolina at Chapel Hill.
"Jennifer Wiley Thompson is more important to the state as a cooperating witness than as a defendant," he said.
It is the latest turn in the four-year investigation by the North carolina Secretary of State's office, which launched its probe shortly after the NCAA began investigating improper benefits and academic misconduct within the Tar Heels' football program in summer 2010.
Thompson, who faced four felony charges, has been cooperating with the investigation, Woodall said.
"There are a couple of people charged in this who are young, essentially the same ages of the student-athletes, and I am looking at the cases with that in mind," Woodall said.
Thompson was initially charged for her role in providing benefits to former Tar Heels football player Greg Little in an attempt to steer the wide receiver to sports agent Terry Watson.
"There's nothing more courageous than a prosecutor willing to dismiss a case they've charged, and I applaud him for that," said Wiley's attorney, Joe Cheshire.
He, too, cited his client's youth and naivete, saying, "She never did anything to profit or meant to break laws. She did what anyone did for a friend."
Woodall said he got an unusual level of cooperation from Thompson and Cheshire, and that he believed her to be truthful.
"We did work to confirm things she told us, through other witnesses and other evidence, and things did check out," Woodall said.
Watson, a Georgia-based agent, faces 14 felony counts in Orange County - 13 for athlete-agent inducement and one for obstructing justice. He is said to have provided nearly $24,000 to former unc football players Little, Marvin Austin and Robert Quinn to get them to sign with his agency.
Patrick Jones, a Georgia-based real estate agent and longtime associated of Watson, is accused of providing money to Quinn through a third party.
A single charge is also outstanding for former North carolina Central University quarterback Michael Wayne Johnson Jr., who was a friend of Little.
Prosecutors say Johnson arranged the May 2010 meeting between Watson and Little in which approximately $5,000 changed hands. Johnson is also charged with providing a mailing address to accept packages of cash from Watson for Little.
Woodall said prosecution would continue against Johnson and the two out-of-state men believed to be key to the case, Watson and Willie Barley, a Miami-based friend of his who allegedly sponsored Quinn to the tune of $1,525.74 for a trip to Miami in May 2010.
Violations of the state's Uniform Athlete Agent Act are low-level felonies, and Woodall has said anyone convicted would get probation if they didn't have a criminal record.
Late Thursday afternoon, Steve Kirschner, unc's senior associate director athletics for communications, issued a statement of support for the probe, and pointed to changes unc has made to avoid getting tied up in athlete-agent issues in the future.
"carolina has enacted a number of initiatives to further educate our students and their families about the agent process. We hope that these guidelines help everyone operate in a manner consistent with NCAA rules and state and federal laws," Krischner wrote.
What. A. Joke. Gonna pin this on those predatory agents who take advantage of unsuspecting youth. Whoa-is-me. Pathetic. Initially , Wiley was scapegoated as a "rogue offender" by unx AND their idiot fans. She was a pariah. Her alma mater barred her from on-campus alumni events and sent her a letter of disassociation. Fearing she would talk , Joe Cheshire ( another hole alum ) has been repping her...pro bono. The ONLY "cooperation" she's giving is whatever testimony it'll take to clear unx athletics. Notice that hole fans are very supportive of her now too. Short memories. Hypocrites , as usual. She was/is WAY more culpable than Cheshire would have people believe. This chick not only kept athletes academically eligible via academic fraud , she had "inappropriate" ( given the circumstances ) relationships with unx player(s) , was cited for being "uncooperative" by the NCAA and used HER plastic on player-accumulated parking tickets...among other things. Oh...and btw...she also carried cash from agents to unx players making her a "runner" by any reasonable standard. Woodall pardons her. Despicable.
