Ex-player is arrested in N.C. agent probe
HILLSBOROUGH, N.C.—A former college football player arrested and charged with acting as an agent and violating North Carolina’s law that bars illegally luring collegiate athletes into contracts made his initial court appearance Tuesday.
Chris Hawkins appeared via videoconference from the Orange County Jail before District Court Judge Beverly Scarlett.
Scarlett reduced his secured bond to $300,000, though Hawkins remained in jail Tuesday afternoon. The bond had been set at $500,000 when he was arrested Monday.
According to arrest warrants, Hawkins, 32, faces two charges of trying to induce former Tar Heels defensive end Robert Quinn to sign a contract in 2010—by giving Quinn $13,700 in cash, and by helping him sell game-used equipment for another $1,700. Quinn now plays for the St. Louis Rams.
Hawkins also is charged with two misdemeanors: intentionally initiating contact with former UNC defensive back Jabari Price in 2013 via Instagram without being a registered agent, and intentionally failing to register as an athlete agent.
Hawkins, a former defensive back at North Carolina and Marshall, was assigned public defender Dana Graves, who said in court she had not yet met with him.
George Jeter, a spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office, called it “a strong, solid case” against Hawkins but declined further comment on the overall probe because “this is an active and ongoing investigation.”
According to search warrants also unsealed Tuesday in Raleigh, several North Carolina players told investigators that Hawkins arranged meetings with sports agents and financial advisors, both locally and out of state, and attended those meetings and had direct contact with the agents and advisors.
The warrants say that Quinn told North Carolina Secretary of State investigators that Hawkins tried to get him to sign with agent Peter Schaffer and pushed him to financial advisor Marty Blazer, admitting Hawkins gave him more than $13,700 to sign with them.
The warrants also cite an Instagram message sent by Hawkins to Price— before the Tar Heels played in the Belk Bowl in December 2013—that said “Season over... Can we talk about representation.”
North Carolina is one of 43 states with a sports agent law. Hawkins is the sixth person to be arrested in the North Carolina Secretary of State’s long-running probe connected to improper benefits for Tar Heels football players. That probe began in summer 2010 amid an NCAA investigation into the program.