and he's taking others with him.
Sixth coach convicted in scandal
Eds: Note that defendant was an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - A former Barton County Community College basketball coach has admitted participating in a scheme to falsify the records of student athletes.
Ryan Cross, one of eight people caught up in the scandal, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court Tuesday to a single count of wire fraud. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors agreed to dismiss another wire fraud charge accusing Cross of sending a fax containing course materials that could be used to obtain college credit for Ricky Clemons, who later played at the University of Missouri.
Clemons accumulated 24 credit hours during a single 2002 summer semester at Barton County Community College. A dozen of those credit hours were for classes on the campus in Great Bend, the rest for correspondence or online courses from other institutions.
The wire fraud charge Cross admitted to stemmed from something that happened after he left Barton County in 1999 to become head coach at Chipola Junior College in Marianna, Fla. While at the Florida school, prosecutors alleged Cross faxed the college transcript of one of his players, Kareem Johnson, to a Barton County coach for the purpose of fraudulently obtaining college credit for the student so he would be eligible to play at the University of Cincinnati.
Cross, 33, left Chipola to become an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech University. He was suspended there after his indictment last year.
Cross, who will be sentenced Aug. 7, faces up to 20 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Monti Belot noted during Tuesday's hearing that Cross has agreed to assist prosecutors in related cases. But Belot said it was up to prosecutors to determine whether that help was "substantial" enough to recommend a lesser sentence.
So far, the other coaches sentenced in the case have received probation. Cases are still pending against the former athletic director and a track coach.