Ex-Auburn assistant Person avoids prison in bribery scandal

NEW YORK — Former Auburn University assistant basketball coach and NBA star Chuck Person’s lifelong generosity may have driven him to the poorhouse, but it saved him from t he j ailhouse Wednesday when a judge sentenced him in a bribery scandal that touched some of the biggest college basketball programs.

U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska cited Person’s “random acts of charity that happened all the time” as she explained why he won’t be locked up for taking bribes to steer top college players toward a financial adviser who was cooperating with the government’s investigation.

“The worst thing you have to say is that you were charitable to a fault,” she told Person, who wiped tears from his face repeatedly. “Keep up the good work.”

She ordered him to do 200 hours of community service during the two years the probation department will supervise him.

“No purpose would be served by incarceration,” Preska said.

Sentencing guidelines called for two years in prison, though three other coaches who pleaded guilty to the same bribery conspiracy charge also received leniency.

Preska said the money Person gave to family, friends, strangers, charities and the schools that propelled him to a 13-year NBA career earned him leniency and a shot at redemption.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Boone told Preska that Person’s crime was worse than others in the bribery scheme because he tried to get players and families to accept bribes even though the government cooperator never suggested it.

The judge read extensively from over 70 letters of support, many citing the generosity which included houses for at least 10 family members, college tuition for two nieces, and computers, school supplies and shoes for high school students.

When he ran out of money, he took out loans to give even more, including $300,000 for a lighted softball complex in Laverne, Alabama, Preska said.

Person, who was in financial trouble at the time, accepted $91,500 in bribes to parlay his relationships with top players to steer them to a financial adviser, federal prosecutors said. The adviser, however, was working as a government cooperator.

Preska noted that after signing his first NBA contract, Person sent most of the money to his family and bought his mother a house. After his playing career ended, he turned down lucrative jobs in the NBA to make less money as a college coach.