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Third Person Charged With Breaking North Carolina Sports Agent Law
Author: Scarinci Hollenbeck, LLC
Date: November 1, 2013
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A third person in North Carolina has been charged with violating the state’s sports agent law by providing illegal benefits to Tar Heels football players.
Patrick Mitchell Jones, 39, a real estate agent from Cartersville, Ga., has been indicted on one count of athlete-agent inducement for allegedly offering money to entice defensive end Robert Quinn to sign with sports agent Terry Watson.
Jones is accused of offering a woman, Constance Orr, $725 in May 2010, for the purposes of facilitating a relationship between Quinn and Watson, Chapel Hill News reported.
“Jones stated this was the only way Watson could compete with the bigger athlete agents and their companies,” A.H. Jones, a special agent with the U.S. Secretary of State, stated in an affidavit, according to ESPN.
Watson, whom Jones described as a friend in search warrant that was unsealed in September, has been indicted on 13 counts. The Marietta, Ga. native is accused of providing close to $24,000 in benefits in 2010 to three Tar Heels players.
Under North Carolina sports law, agents are required to register with the Secretary of State’s office. Violation of the law is a Class I felony, carrying a maximum prison sentence of 15 months for each count, as well as civil penalties up to $25,000.
Quinn, a first round 2011 draft pick by the St. Louis Rams, is one of three former University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill players mentioned in the indictments, along with Greg Little and Marvin Austin. All three are currently in the NFL, Chapel Hill News reported.
Quinn was deemed permanently ineligible by the NCAA to play a snap in the 2011 season for accepting improper benefits, ESPN noted.
The investigation was brought on by the Secretary of State’s office following a probe of the NCAA in 2010, which uncovered incongruous activity with the UNC football program between players and sports agents.
Earlier in October, former UNC tutor Jennifer Wiley Thompson was charged with transferring money from Watson to Little for the purposes of inducing a professional relationship.
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