Five former, one current USD athlete indicted for tax fraud scheme
Five former University of South Dakota athletes and one current football player were indicted by a federal grand jury for tax fraud conspiracy and identity theft, a Nov. 16 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for South Dakota said.
Nine people from South Dakota and Florida were included in the indictment, and defendants are accused of stealing people’s identities to file bogus income tax returns to the amount of about $1.1 million in refunds due. The Internal Revenue Service paid fraudulent claims of about $500,000 before the fraud came to light, the release said.
Former USD athletes involved in the tax scheme are Alphonso “Rico” Valdez, 21; Jeremy Blount, 24; Terry Liggins, 27; Marquis Butler, 22 and current team member Chris Lundy, 20. Former football player Chris Frierson, 21, was indicted only on the conspiracy charge.
Valdez, a former USD cornerback, was described by federal prosecutors in Tampa, Fla. as the ringleader, according to a Tampa Tribune account from the Nov. 15 court hearing.
Lundy is the a sophomore defensive back for the Coyotes and did not play Nov. 17 at South Dakota State University “due to the circumstances,” USD Spokeswoman Tena Haraldson told the Associated Press. No formal disciplinary action has been taken against Lundy, Haraldson said.
Lundy and Liggins appeared in federal district court in Sioux Falls Nov. 15 and pled not guilty to the indictment. The two were released pending trial, the release said.
Valdez, Blount, Frierson appeared before federal court Nov. 15 before a federal magistrate judge in Florida. They were released and ordered to appear in South Dakota federal court in Sioux Falls Dec. 10 at 2 p.m.
Two individuals named in the indictment have not been arrested.
If found guilty, the maximum penalty for the conspiracy charge is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory punishment of two years in prison.
Check back to volanteonline.com for student reactions to the tax scandal as The Volante continues coverage of the case in the coming weeks.
