Thursday, January 13, 2000

Federal authorities are trying to force banned University of Michigan basketball booster Ed Martin into revealing the depth of his relationship to the program.

Sources familiar with a federal investigation of Martin's gambling activities told The Ann Arbor News that a plea bargain agreement is being negotiated between Martin's lawyer, Neil Fink, and the United States Attorney's Office.

A stipulation of the proposed agreement, a source said, is that Martin would have to give full disclosure of his involvement with former Michigan basketball players if the school or the NCAA decides to re-open an investigation into the program.

The sources, who asked to remain anonymous while the proposed agreement is being finalized, do not include federal officials involved in the potential prosecution of Martin. He and his son, Carlton, have been under federal investigation for more than a year for allegedly operating a numbers running business.

The proposed plea bargain agreement could be finalized within a week, a source said.

This approach by the federal government to include that stipulation, while not unheard of, is unusual.

The possible conclusion to the matter could have devastating effects if the U-M basketball program is investigated again and Martin talks.

U-M President Lee Bollinger has not commented on the Martin case in several months, but has said in the past he wants the matter to come a conclusion and wants "the truth to be known."

The team could be placed on probation and suffer the loss of television and NCAA tournament appearances if a lack of institutional control is found to be an element. But the NCAA recently slapped a light penalty on the Notre Dame football program after a female booster lavished players with gifts and trips with monies she embezzled from an employer. That penalty did not involve the loss of television appearances or other significant sanctions.

The possibility exists that the university itself, which already has conducted one internal investigation of Martin and hired a private law firm to conduct another, will investigate the program again if Martin is compelled to talk this time.

The report by the Kansas law firm in October of 1997 concluded that its investigation was hampered by the fact that neither Martin nor several former players were bound to cooperate.

Martin was banned from the Michigan basketball program in March 1997, after he became the focal point of the university's initial investigation into the program. He is alleged to have provided gifts and cash payments to former Wolverine players.

Martin and his son, Carlton, are the subjects of a joint FBI-IRS investigation. Federal agents are checking whether they are ringleaders of an extensive gambling operation at Ford Motor Co. plants. Sources said federal agents do not have any evidence suggesting any gambling or point-shaving activities associated with Michigan basketball games.

However, investigators also are probing Martin's relationship with former U-M players, and whether he gave them cash or gifts. The IRS is involved because of the possibility of unreported income and income tax evasion.

Martin's cooperation with any future U-M investigation is one of the stipulations of the proposed plea agreement, in which he would be charged with operating a gambling business. Further details of the potential agreement are not known, but a source said Martin would serve limited prison time, if any.

A source also said that former Michigan players who already have been interviewed by federal authorities could be brought back yet again for another round of interviews.

"That's news to me," said Detroit attorney Steven Fishman, who represents former U-M stars Robert Traylor and Louis Bullock. "If (players are being called back), they haven't asked my two guys."

Fink, Martin's attorney, did not return a phone call seeking comment. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Convertino, who is heading the Martin investigation, declined to comment.

The Ann Arbor News reported last summer that former Michigan players Louis Bullock and Albert White accepted money from Martin. Sources familiar with the investigation told The News that Bullock took more than $50,000 from Martin during his career, and White took $37,000 in less than two seasons before transferring to Missouri.

Sources said Bullock continued to take money even after Martin was banned by U-M in '97.

Bullock, White, Robert Traylor, Chris Webber and several other former U-M players have all been interviewed by federal authorities or had their bank records checked.

--