Bert Neff was sentenced to eight months in prison for his involvement in the Alabama baseball scandal

On Monday, Eugene Bert Neff Jr. was sentenced to eight months in prison and three years of supervised release. Neff was the Indiana man who was behind the NCAA betting scandal that led to Alabama’s baseball coach Brad Bohannon being fired. Court records indicate that Neff must report to the facility on October 29 to begin serving his sentencing. This past February, Neff pleaded guilty to obstructing a federal grand jury investigation into the NCAA betting scandal. There was a chance that Neff was going to serve the maximum sentence of 10 years.

In April 2023, Bert Neff was in direct contact with Alabama baseball head coach Brad Bohannon. Neff unsuccessfully tried to place a $100,000 wager on an Alabama baseball game at the BetMGM Sportsbook at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. The NCAA found that Bohannon violated the wagering and ethical conduct rules. Bohannon provided Neff with inside information about scratching his starting pitch before the game. Coach Bohannon received a three-year probation and a 15-year show-cause order for his actions. A news release by the US Attorney’s Office in Alabama had this to say about Neff and his suspicious activity that day.

“This suspicious activity included the bettor’s insistent demeanor to get the bet placed and statements to sportsbook staff that the bet was ‘for sure going to win’ and ‘if only you guys knew what I knew.’ The suspicious activity also included the bettor showing sportsbook staff messages from Bohannon and explaining that the messages were Bohannon informing bettor that Alabama was scratching its starting pitcher before the game and before Bohannon alerted LSU.”

What did Neff do to impede the NCAA betting probe?

FBI special agent Carlton L. Peeples and US attorney Prim. F. Escalona detailed how Bert Neff tried to impede their investigation. Neff destroyed his cell phone and encouraged others to do the same. Additionally, Neff told witnesses to delete encrypted messages and applications as well as providing false statements to federal investigators. It didn’t end there. Neff had a one-hour and twenty-minute phone call with two witnesses the day before they were scheduled to testify. This was all to try and interfere with his investigation and hide his wrongdoings. In the end, it did not work out for Bert Neff and he’ll serve eight months in prison.