16 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 30, 1998
Former Notre Dame booster
gets 4-year prison sentence
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - A former Notre Dame
booster who embezzled $1.2 million has agreed to testi-
fy against Irish players she bought gifts for with the
money she stole.
Kimberly Dunbar, was sentenced to four years in
prison on Monday for stealing from Jerry Dominiack, the
owner of Dominiack Mechanical Inc.
He has filed a civil suit seeking $1.4 million in dam-
ages from Dunbar, her mother and sister, and five former
Notre Dame players - Jarvis Edison, Lee Becton, Ray
Zellars, Derrick Mayes andKinnon Tatum.
Dunbar will be eligible for release after serving two
years of her prison term. The former Notre Dame boost-
er was also sentenced to probation from her release date
until Sept. 28, 2014.
As part of her probation, she cannot have any contact
with the 12 players she gave gifts using the money she
stole. She can see Edison, with whom she has a child,
only with court approval.
Dunbar clutched a tissue in her hand and dabbed her
eyes repeatedly as St. Joseph Superior Court Judge
Jerome Frese suspended 12 of the 16 years in prison she
faced on two Class C felonies.
Given a chance to address the court, Dunbar told Frese
she was sorry for stealing the money. She then turned to
face Dominiack and his wife in the front row of the
courtroom and tearfully told them, "I'm sorry, Jerry and
Connie, for what I've done to you."
Despite Dunbar's please for leniency, St. Joseph
County prosecutor Michael Barnes insisted that she
spend time in prison so that "she simply can't walk away
from this thing."
"The fact is Miss Dunbar was in a position of trust.
She capitalized on that position of trust, and she capital-
ized on it to the tune of $1.2 million," he said.
Dunbar also was ordered to pay S1.2 million in restitu-
tion to Dominiack as part of her sentence and will likely
be dropped from the civil suit because of it, Dunbar's
attorney William Stanley said.
She'll also have to cooperate with Dominiack's attor-
neys as they pursue a civil suit to recuperate some of his
losses and will have to testify if needed about the players
to whom she gave jewelry, clothing and trips, including
an outing to a Chicago Bulls game that involved five cur-
rent Notre Dame players.
The gifts became the center of a school investigation
started in February to probe Dunbar's relationship with
Notre Dame players and possible NCAA rules violations.
Notre Dame then forwarded some of its findings to the
NCAA, which ruled that Dunbar was acting as- a repre-
sentative of the school while a member of the now-dis-
banded Quarterback Club and informed Notre Dame that
it could face sanctions for two rules-violations.
Notre Dame athletic director Mike Wadsworth on
Monday said the NCAA is still considering whether to
penalize the football program.
The five current players involved in the trip to a Bulls
game were cleared of any wrongdoing by the NCAA in
August after the university made them pay back the cost
of the trip by making a donation to a charity.
Wadsworth said school attorneys interviewed Dunbar
twice this month to complete their investigation and have
forwarded their findings to the NCAA, which has not
made an indication when it might issue a ruling.
"We had notified them of our intention to interview
Miss Dunbar in order to cover every possible avenue we
could with respect to our investigation," Wadsworth said.
"There isn't any new information with respect to activi-
ties by any member of the team or anyone associated
with the team or the athletic department."
Dunbar, who had asked Frese not to give her jail time
so she could stay with her 2-year-old daughter Jasmine,
avoided reporters after she left the courthouse and
refused to comment.
WARRENZINN/a y
The Notre Dame football program has had its share of problems off the field. Former Notre Dame booster Kimberly Dunbar was
sentenced to four years in prison for embezzling money from Dominiack Mechanical, Inc.
Iowa football takes precautions
against professional agents
Iowa's athletic
department takes
precautionary
methods when
dealing with
sports agents.
Educational
programs are in
place in Iowa City
to assist student
athletes.
FILE PHOTO
By James Kramer
The Daily Iowan
IOWA CITY - The recent suspen-
sion of Michigan safety Marcus Ray
has served as a reminder for Iowa
football players of the risks of deal-
ing with agents.
School officials have suspended
Ray indefinitely while they conduct a
probe into whether Ray made illegal
contact with an agent. The preseason
All-American will not play this
Saturday when the Wolverines meet
the Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium.
Iowa coach Hayden Fry spoke at
length yesterday about the measures
he and his staff take to prepare play-
ers for potential dangers.
Agents, gambling and drug use are
some of the problems Fry tries to
avoid.
"We try to educate our players
about every way they could foul up,"
Fry said. "We've been doing this
since I've been here, and it's certain-
ly eliminated a lot of problems."
Iowa has brought in FBI agents, a
federal judge and National Football
League representatives to inform stu-
dent-athletes of various hazards.
Fry said the precautions have
helped, but added that there is always
a possibility for trouble.
"The gambling problem is the No.
1 priority for college coaches in all
sports," Fry said.
Sometimes, Fry said, a seemingly
harmless inquiry by a fellow student
can lead to bigger problems for ath-
letes.
This stems from the fact that book-
makers often have student "runners"
on campuses to obtain information
about the team.
Freshman quarterback - Kyle
McCann recalled one speaker that
told how runners often receive inside
information from unsuspecting play-
ers.
"You have to be careful about who
you're talking to and realize that
there's people out there looking to
make some big bucas," McCann said.
Injuries and other personnel data
are usually what runners are after.
The Princeton Review
will get you
a little closer
to medical school.
Invest in your future.
Marcus Ray "must have made a bad0
decision. I'm committed to this team
and to this season. I know what to
do and what not to do."
- Jared DeVries
iowa defensive tackle
Unlike the NFL, college football
does not require teams to issue a
weekly injury report. That puts infor-
mation about a team's health at a pre-
mium.
Senior Jared DeVries said his
"secluded" lifestyle makes him less
susceptible to gambling sources.
There's not much time for 'outside
people to get involved in my life," he
said.
But it's not always that simple.
DeVries was asked, for example, how
he would respond if a student
inquired about the team's "attitude."
"That's a pretty good question,"
DeVries said. "I don't really think a
whole lot about that. I think of every-
body being a pretty trustworthy per-
son, like myself."
DeVries is similar to Ray in that
both are highly touted seniors. It's
inevitable that they will be pursued
by sports agents looking to capitalize
on their future salaries.
Talking to an agent is one thing.
Accepting money or gifts from one is
what violates NCAA rules. Penn
State's Curtis Enis was suspended for
last season's Citrus Bowl after
allegedly obtaining a suit from an
agent.
DeVries said he is not concerned
about becoming a casualty.
Ray "must have made a bad deci-
sion,' DeVries said. "I'm committed
to this team and to this season. I
know what to do and what not to do."
After 37 years as a college coach,
Fry certainly knows how to prevent
potential problems. More stringent
NCAA guidelines have also helped
him.
"We probably have 20 or 25 rules
now that we didn't have 15 yea*
ago," Fry said. "And they're all good
rules."
Fry and his coaching staff begin to
bring home the message early in a
player's career.
All Hawkeye players are required
to live on-campus for two years, and
they must have a 2.4 GPA to move
off-campus.
In addition, Fry said an assistan
coach is assigned to check on th
players every night at Slater Hall.
"I don't know if (the problems) are
worse," Fry said. "But we're much
more knowledgeable than we used to
be."
NOTES: Fry said redshirt freshman
Robbie Crockett could play this
weekend, depending on the team's
injuries.
Crockett, a tailback, was suspend-
ed by Iowa for the season's first four
games for a sexual misconduct cor
viction.
Jeff McCracken, who started at
linebacker in Iowa's season opener,
has not been reporting to practice,
Fry said. McCracken had shin splints
last week and did not travel to
Illinois.
Fry said the decision to use true
freshman Aaron Kampman this year
may have "hurt (McCracken's) feel
ings."
McCracken was scheduled to meet
with Fry Tuesday afternoon.
Fry said there have been no deci-
sions made concerning the eligibility
statuses of Chris Knipper (acade-
mics) and Zeron Flemister (alcohol
charge).
Call us today.
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