An Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agent is being accused of investigating Iowa and Iowa State athletes for sports betting violations without a warrant, according to multiple reports. The accusation comes in a recent motion from an attorney, Van Plumb, representing former Iowa State defensive linemen Isaiah Lee and Eyioma Uwazurike.
As a result of the DCI’s initial investigation, Lee was accused of betting against his team in 2021, when the Cyclones played Texas. Iowa State was favored in the game against the Longhorns and won 30-7, covering the spread. Lee, a projected starter for Iowa State in 2023, left the team in August.
Uwazurike, a member of the Denver Broncos, was suspended indefinitely prior to the start of the 2023 season for alleging wagering on multiple sporting events in 2022, including Broncos games as a member of the team.
Plumb alleges that the investigation shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
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Plumb accuses a DCI agent, Brian Sanger, of using a software tool to monitor the use of online betting apps inside Iowa and Iowa State athletic facilities. Plumb’s motion suggests that Sanger didn’t have a warrant or a credible tip or complaint to begin investigating the athletic facilities for wagering activity.
Sports Handle reached out to the DCI for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
Stakeholders at Iowa and Iowa State have long questioned why their two athletic departments, and not others across the U.S., were the subject of intense scrutiny surrounding student-athlete gambling. Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz was particularly perplexed, as he saw standout defensive lineman Noah Shannon miss the entire 2023 season for violating NCAA sports betting rules.
“I have said many times that I think it is peculiar that the state of Iowa is uniquely the focus of this investigation,” Ferentz said in November. “Noah is being sidelined because the NCAA is ruling on an investigation that they did not instigate, using an uneven system of justice to severely punish an excellent young man. It is just wrong.”
Ferentz wasn’t the only Iowa coach frustrated by the investigation. The Hawkeyes’ head wrestling coach, Tom Brands, also questioned the integrity of the investigation in November.
“No one is asking the question, ‘Why was the Department of Justice in the state of Iowa targeting Iowa State University and the University of Iowa?’” Brands said in an imioned press conference.
Brands went as far as saying the university athletes were “targeted unfairly and maybe illegally.”
