Student manager latest to reach plea deal in Iowa college betting scandal
Graduate assistant Owen O’Brien joins former University of Iowa athletes in pleading guilty to underage gambling
Owen O’Brien, a graduate assistant with the University of Iowa football team, has pleaded guilty to underage gambling as part of the continued fallout from the state’s wide-sweeping betting investigation.
O’Brien was among an expansive list of current and former Iowa student-athletes and team managers charged with tampering with records in the illegal sports wagering scheme, in which athletes and staff members placed illegal bets through third-party or family members sportsbook accounts.
The chargers were handed down throughout August and September, with O’Brien being the latest to reach a plea deal in return for a lesser charge of underage gambling.
As part of the guilty plea, he faces a $645 fine – a significantly lighter penalty than the two-year prison sentence he could have faced for the aggravated misdemeanour tampering charge.
O’Brien, who was accused of placing three wagers on Iowa football games in 2022 during his time as a member of the team’s staff, allegedly made a combined 350 bets totaling $3,047 while under the legal betting age of 21.
The wagers, which included 11 involving University of Iowa sporting events per the criminal complaint, were placed using an account in his mother’s name.
There was notably no mention of the specific events, dates or times of the wagers in O’Brien’s guilty plea, which was formally entered on October 24 in Johnson County District Court.
O’Brien joins a handful of former Hawkeye athletes – including football players Jack Johnson, Arland Bruce IV, and Reggie Bracy – in pleading guilty to the reduced charges.
Multiple Iowa State student-athletes, headlined by former quarterback Hunter Dekkers, have also reached similar deals with prosecutors as part of the investigation.