Iowa law enforcement agent accused of "warrantless" investigation in college gambling case

The sports betting scandal that ensnared more than a dozen student-athletes from the University of Iowa and Iowa State University in 2023 has taken a new turn, with an attorney who represents some of the students alleging in a recent motion that an agent within Iowa’s Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) conducted a “warrantless” investigation.

The motion, filed on January 22 by Van Plumb, attorney for former Iowa State football player Isaiah Lee and several other student-athletes, accuses DCI special agent Brian Sanger of acting in a rogue capacity in order to receive sign-off from his superiors to continue the investigation.

The motion is centered around ‘geofencing’ software, which allows operators to gain visibility into the precise location of a prospective user in order to verify the user is within an approved gaming jurisdiction.

According to Plumb, citing a deposition of Sanger conducted on January 19, Sanger originally began his investigation by using geofencing software to look into potential underage gambling within a freshman and sophomore dorm at the University of Iowa.

While the geolocation technology allowed Sanger to confirm students were opening gambling apps, he was unable to verify if they were actually placing wagers, prompting his superiors to deny his request to continue the investigation.

The motion alleges however, that Sanger continued to leverage the software and applied a geofence around the Iowa athletic facility.

Upon seeing that gambling apps were being opened inside the facility, Sanger made an additional request to his bosses to greenlight the investigation, which was granted. 

Sanger ultimately applied a similar geofence around an Iowa State athletic facility. 

In his motion, Plumb alleges the investigation was expanded “without reasonable cause.”

“The result was the indictment of a handful of Iowa’s student-athletes even though the privacy of hundreds had been invaded,” Plumb continued in the motion.

“During Special Agent Sanger’s deposition on January 19, 2024, he stated that he cannot remember why he decided to conduct the warrantless searches but that he was concerned about things such as people infiltrating Iowa’s sports team to gain insider information or match-fixing.

“This was done without a warrant, tips, complaints, or evidence that illegal activity was occurring.”

The DCI had yet to comment on the motion, which is seeking discretionary discovery, as of January 23.