Iowa State QB Hunter Dekkers accused of betting on school's sports, including football
The Story County (Iowa) Attorney's Office has filed a criminal complaint against Iowa State University quarterback Hunter Dekkers, charging him with tampering with records related to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s probe into sports gambling.
Dekkers is accused of placing 26 wagers on Iowa State sporting events, including the 2021 football game against Oklahoma State when he was a sophomore backup quarterback, according to the complaint, filed in Iowa District Court for Story County. Dekkers did not play in that game.
The complaint alleges the DraftKings account controlled by Dekkers completed approximately 366 mobile/online sports wagers totaling “over $2,799.”
Dekkers, who started all 12 of the Cyclones' games last season, would face permanent loss of eligibility under NCAA guidelines that prohibit athletes from wagering on their own games or other sports at their own schools.
Dekkers will not participate in Iowa State's fall football camp in order to "focus on his studies and on the defense of this criminal charge," according to a statement released by his attorneys.
All told, three current and one former Iowa State athlete were charged Tuesday with tampering with records in an attempt to disguise their identities while placing sports wagers. All are accused of manipulating transactions to create the appearance that their bets were placed by other people.
"Hunter Dekkers denies the criminal charge brought against him. He will plead not guilty to that charge because he is in fact not guilty of that charge," attorney Mark Weinhardt, who is representing Dekkers, said in a statement emailed to the Des Moines Register, part of the USA TODAY Network. "This charge attempts to criminalize a daily fact of American life. Millions of people share online accounts of all kinds every day.
"This prosecution interferes with and politicizes what is the business of Iowa State University and the NCAA. The investigation at the Iowa universities is the tip of an iceberg. Thousands and thousands of college athletes place bets — usually very small ones — with shared accounts. That is for the schools and the NCAA to police."
Dekkers was expected to start for the Cyclones again this year.
“No matter what we’re doing, I’m not going to jeopardize the team,” Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell said last month regarding players involved in the probe. “What we’ll do is what’s in the best interest of the team.”
Two current Iowa State athletes also charged
Two other current Iowa State athletes also are charged with tampering with records. Paniro Johnson, a sophomore wrestler, and Dodge Sauser, a sophomore offensive lineman on the football team, are both accused of wagering on Iowa State sports.
Sauser is alleged to have placed 12 wagers on Iowa State football games, including contests last year against Ohio, West Virginia, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. In total, Sauser wagered $3,075 on DraftKings, according to the complaint.
Sauser is not noted as appearing in any Iowa State game during his career in the school’s official biography of him on its athletic department website.
Paniro, a Big 12 Conference champion at 149 pounds last season, placed wagers totaling $45,640 on approximately 1,283 bets, according to the complaint. He placed approximately 25 bets on Iowa State events, authorities allege.
The Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission said in May that it did not believe betting markets had been compromised by conduct included in the probe.
"We currently do not have any indication that there are any issues that would raise doubt on the integrity of the markets that have been offered from those two universities," Brian Ohorilko, administrator of the Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission, told the Des Moines Register then.
The tampering with records charge is an aggravated misdemeanor and could carry a maximum sentence of up to one year in county jail or up to two years in prison if convicted.
Former Cyclone Enyi Uwazurike accused of betting on Iowa State, NFL games
Former Iowa State defensive lineman Enyi Uwazurike is also facing a complaint of tampering with records, and he is accused of placing wagers in two games he played in while a Cyclone in 2021. Uwazurike placed wagers on Iowa State’s games against Iowa and Kansas that year, authorities allege in the Tuesday filing.
Uwazurike, who was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL draft, was indefinitely suspended by the NFL last month for placing bets on NFL games. The criminal complaint filed Tuesday alleges the FanDuel account controlled by Uwazurike placed 32 wagers on Broncos games and players from September through December 2022.
All four athletes are accused of concealing their identities "with the intent to deceive or conceal a wrongdoing," according to the complaint.
Each athlete is separately accused of being involved in a “scheme” with third parties to conceal their identities that would create the appearance that the third parties, rather than the athletes, were placing bets, according to the complaints.
Authorities allege that bets were made by each athlete on their personal iPhones, and that bets were made in their “known locations,” including their “university residence and areas of the university not routinely open to the public,” according to the complaints.
Dekkers, Johnson and Sauser are accused of, but not charged with, placing underage bets. The legal betting age in Iowa is 21 years old, but Dekkers, Johnson and Sauser “employed a proxy account registered in the name of an individual who was over the legal age of 21,” according to the complaints.
“(An underage bettor) is not regarded as being so grave that they’re going to be prosecuted,” Keith Miller, a Drake University law professor and co-author of a textbook on gaming law, told the Register in June.
The alleged actions of Uwazurike, Dekkers, Sauser and Johnson “contravened various legal and regulatory frameworks, including” violation of licensed sportsbook user terms and conditions, breach of university and NCAA policies, unfair wagering and conflict of interest and tax implications, according to the complaint.
“I think the DCI is also primarily looking at if there are violations of state or federal law," Miller said. "And it may be that they will prosecute some of the athletes, but would doubt it if they did. And if they did, that would be unusual and there would probably be aggravating circumstances that motivated them.”
Iowa State previously announced it self-reported gambling allegations of “approximately 15” student-athletes from three sports (football, track and field, wrestling). At the University of Iowa, 26 student-athletes in five men's sports (baseball, basketball, football, track and field, wrestling) were flagged in the investigation. A check of Iowa Courts Online turned up no charges against Hawkeye athletes as of Tuesday afternoon.
Those involved would be deemed ineligible for competition and would need to be formally reinstated before they could play again.
ISU senior associate athletics director Nick Joos said Tuesday: “We are in the process of gathering information and will have no further comment at this time."
Losing Dekkers would make 2023 season more complicated for ISU
Dekkers, a former standout at West Sioux High School, spent two years as the backup to Brock Purdy, Iowa State’s most successful quarterback in school history, before being handed the reins last season. He completed 66% of his passes while throwing for 3,044 yards and 19 touchdowns, but also threw 14 interceptions, among the most in the nation.
"Playing football at Iowa State has been a dream come true," Weinhardt, Dekkers' attorney, said in his emailed statement. "This investigation has gone on since May, when DCI agents executed a search warrant at Hunter’s apartment in Ames and another at his family’s home in northwest Iowa. The investigation has been an immense distraction from Hunter’s ability to be a good student and a great teammate. Hunter greatly appreciates the cooperation and support of Iowa State University and Coach Campbell and his staff during these events."
The Cyclones went 4-8 last year and missed a bowl game for the first time since 2016. The path back to the postseason will undoubtedly be more difficult if Iowa State is without Dekkers for any or all of the season.
Iowa State has a trio of other scholarship quarterbacks on the roster. Rocco Becht appeared in two games and threw 15 passes last year as a true freshman. JJ Kohl, a four-star recruit from Ankeny, came to Iowa State this past winter as an early enrollee.
The Cyclones recently received a commitment from junior college quarterback Tanner Hughes. Iowa State offered Hughes on May 20, and he committed three days later. He also held offers from Morehead State and Duquesne.
Iowa State opens the season at home on Sept. 2 against Northern Iowa.