Sentencing in tax fraud scheme will not affect football program

Three former University of South Dakota football players, along with eight others, plead guilty to tax-refund fraud.

Alphonso “Rico” Valdez was sentenced to 61 months in prison Jan. 12 in Sioux Falls.

Each of the 11 people involved in the scheme plead guilty, and about $400,000 was collected in total.

Athletic Director David Herbster said in an email this will not negatively affect the football team’s recruiting.

“The event itself is old news — it is just the sentencing that is happening now,” he said. “This did not affect our recruiting when it happened over two years ago, and I don’t see it having any effect now.”

Valdez and five others were football players at the time of the tax fraud. Valdez was ordered to help pay $421,000 in restitution.