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Thursday, July 13, 2006

How the Game
is Played


"Lance Brauman resigned Wednesday as assistant track coach at the University of Arkansas, just hours after a federal jury found him guilty for his role in a scheme to use work-study and campus employment programs at a Kansas community college to illegally pay athletes for work they didn't perform.

Brauman, 36, was found guilty of one count of embezzlement, one count of theft and three counts of mail fraud committed while he was a coach at Barton County Community College in Great Bend.

The charges stemmed from his fraudulent use of the federal work-study program and campus jobs to get around a Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference ban on giving athletes full-ride scholarships, and for causing false academic credentials to be sent to the University of Arkansas on an athlete's behalf.

But he was acquitted of three counts of mail fraud involving transcripts sent to Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas, for three student-athletes.

Brauman looked down while the verdict was read and shook his head after jurors left the courtroom. The jury took less than seven hours to reach the verdict.

His resignation was e-mailed to the university and accepted, said Kevin Trainor, sports information director for the University of Arkansas.

Brauman's case was the first to go to trial in a scandal that spawned charges against seven Barton County coaches and the athletic director, and led to the firing of the school's president.

Defense attorney Lee Davis said he respected the jury and the jury process, but disagreed with the guilty verdicts. He noted that trial evidence showed the practice of using work-study and campus employment programs to pay athletes was widespread at the college and had started years before Brauman was hired as a then-25-year-old coach.

"Obviously we have a system at Barton County Community College which was poorly run by the president of the college and encouraged by the board of trustees," Davis said in an interview Wednesday afternoon.

"As it stands, the board of trustees and the president avoided all responsibility," Davis said. "It is a real tragedy that a relatively young coach has had his career and his life stop because of it — and those responsible for initiating and developing the system are still unaccountable."

U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren said the defense that other college employees engaged in similar conduct does not excuse Brauman's illegal activities.

"The implication was that if criminal behavior is widespread it is not really criminal. This jury verdict sets the record straight on that point," Melgren said in a written statement.

Carl Heilman, the new president of Barton County Community College, said in a statement the federal investigation is ongoing and the college respects the court's decision.

"Since the misdeeds at the college were identified, we have taken all possible steps to maintain institutional and academic integrity," Heilman said. "That remains our objective and we believe we are being successful."

The indictment claimed the fraud cost the federal work-study program $16,809 and the campus employment program $109,477 for work that was never performed. The charges alleged the crimes occurred from December 2000 to August 2003, while Brauman was coaching at the Great Bend school.

The mail fraud charges on which Brauman was convicted involved sprinter Tyson Gay, who received an associate's degree from Barton County Community College that allowed him to run at the University of Arkansas.

According to the indictment, Gay received credit from the college for a technical mathematics course he did not complete. The government also accused Brauman of having Brigham Young University mail documents for an algebra course for Gay that was completed by others.

U.S. District Judge Monti Belot scheduled sentencing for Oct. 9 and allowed Brauman to remain free on bond until then.

Brauman faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 on each mail fraud count; up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000 on the embezzlement count; and up to 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000 on the theft count.

Federal grand juries have indicted eight employees of Barton County Community College's athletics department. Brauman and former athletic director Neil Elliott are the only ones to take their cases to trial.

Of the six other defendants, former assistant basketball coach Matthew B. Skillman and former basketball coach David "Soupy" Campbell are serving probation after entering pleas. Four others — former basketball coach Ryan Wolf, former assistant basketball coach Shane Hawkins, former track coach Lyles Lashley and former basketball coach Ryan Cross — await sentencing."

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/other/2006-07-12-arkansas-track-brauman_x.htm