Iowa
Iowa investigators in student sports betting probe defend investigation tactics
Iowa’s Department of Public Safety says it believes its investigation into gambling at Iowa State University and University of Iowa was constitutional, amid allegations from defense attorneys the state failed to obtain warrants before searching for on-campus use of cell phone betting apps.
More than 20 current and former Iowa and Iowa State athletes and student managers have been charged with identity theft and other crimes related to allegedly using other people’s accounts to make online wagers through apps like FanDuel. Many have pleaded guilty to reduced charges of underage gambling, while others continue to fight their cases. Defendants also have faced NCAA investigations and sanctions.
In recent weeks, attorneys for the remaining defendants have accused investigators of wrongdoing. In particular, defense attorney Van Plumb alleged in court filings that the lead case agent, Brian Sanger, who used software to search for any uses of gambling apps within University of Iowa dorms and athletic facilities, failed to obtain a warrant and acted without any tips or complaints of criminal activity.
Officials defend sports gambling investigation in rare statement
In a statement Wednesday, the DPS responded to those claims, saying that investigators “conferred with legal counsel to ensure lawful access to and use of the technology” and that “we believe the evidence was obtained in a constitutionally permissible manner.”
Federal law prohibits sports betting across state lines, and under Iowa law, sportsbooks are required to implement “location detection procedures” to prevent gamblers from placing wagers outside their registered states. The companies also are required to take “reasonable steps” to prevent athletes, coaches and others involved in sporting events from gambling on them.
Such rules have led many sportsbooks to employ services such as GeoComply, which uses phone location data to detect and report where a wager is placed from. Attorneys for the Iowa athletes accuse Sanger of using similar software to identify all wagers made from university buildings, resulting in lists of what they say were “hundreds” of accounts for which investigators then subpoenaed records.
The department says the software in question was made available to its Division of Criminal Investigation “to help identify anomalies suggesting suspicious or criminal activity” but does not say whether the department was aware of any such anomalies prior to conducting the searches.
The statement also comes after repeated requests from the Register for comment on the defendants’ recent court filings. It acknowledges that DPS “traditionally does not comment on active investigations or litigation” but says the department wants “to reassure Iowans that the Department always strives to scrupulously uphold the laws and constitutions of the United States and the State of Iowa.”
Attorneys for several of the defendants did not have any immediate comment on the DPS’ statement.
Statement silent on allegation DCI officials lied to their own agents about probe
The statement did not address the most explosive allegation to arise in the case: that DCI officials lied to their own agents to push forward the controversial investigation.
Defense attorney Christopher Sandy on Jan. 23 filed a motion seeking records of possible misconduct by investigators. It cited a Jan. 19 deposition in which DCI Special Agent Mark Ludwick testified that he and other agents were dispatched May 2, 2023, to interview a number of Iowa State students. Ludwick said Special Agent in Charge Troy Nelson briefed them that the investigation was “purely administrative” and the targets were online gambling operators like FanDuel and DraftKings.
Ludwick was assigned to interview Iowa State football player Isaiah Lee, now a client of Sandy’s charged with tampering with records, and testified he assured Lee he was not a target of the investigation and didn’t face any consequences, leading Lee to tell him about his online gambling. Afterward, Ludwick said, Nelson “congratulated” him “for obtaining a confession.”
“Contrary to representations made to him and other Special Agents that morning, Special Agent Ludwick realized the purpose of the investigation was criminal in nature, with the sole targets being male Division I student athletes at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University,” Sandy wrote. “Special Agent Ludwick advised his superiors that he would no longer participate in the investigation, and requested reassignment.”
The full transcript of Ludwick’s testimony has yet to be made public.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has said she wasn’t concerned about the DCI investigation, and referred questions about its conduct to the Department of Public Safety. The DPS has not responded to requests for comment.
Additional sports gambling charges disclosed
Also Wednesday, the DCI released a list of all defendants who have been charged in the investigation, totaling 16 current or former ISU students and eight from University of Iowa. A number of the ISU cases, brought in 2023 by the Story County Attorney’s Office, had not previously been reported, including:
- Drew Woodley, wrestling.
- Osun Osunniyi, basketball.
- Howard Brown, football.
- Nathan Schon, wrestling.
- Jeremiah ‘Trey’ Mathis, football.
- Tyler Claiborne, football.
- Edwardo Lemos, football.
Also charged in Story County is Jacob English. The Register was unable to confirm English’s college affiliation.
Of these cases, all but one have been resolved, with the defendants receiving citations for underage gambling. Ossuniyi, who is now playing in Belgium, failed to make a scheduled initial appearance in September, resulting in a warrant being issued for his arrest.
Brown has since transferred to Boise State, while Woodley, Schon, Claiborne and Lemos remain listed on ISU rosters but do not appear to have competed in 2023.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.
Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard on Tailgate Tour for new coaches
Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard on the opportunity for new coaches on Tailgate Tour
WATERLOO – It was probably a bit more than two years ago when the hints, innuendo, gossip and speculation started to accumulate.
In conversations with coaches or administrators or the otherwise well-connected within Iowa State athletics circles, any discussion about the not-too-distant future of Cyclone sports would take a sort of detour.
‘You know,’ they’d say, ‘Jamie isn’t going to be here forever.’
Do tell, I’d ask.
‘It wouldn’t shock me,’ they’d note, ‘if Jamie called it a career sooner than you’d think.’
Jamie being, of course, Jamie Pollard, Iowa State’s longest-tenured athletics director. He is, of course, still Iowa State’s athletic director, and he’s under contract to be so through 2030 after signing a five-year extension early in 2025. Which, given the gathering momentum of speculation about a potential impending retirement, surprised plenty of people plugged in to the Jacobson Athletic Building when it was announced.
So the rumor mill, as it so often does, began spinning again. This time, with an explanation of why it was wrong the first time.
Iowa State president Wendy Wintersteen, who would announce her own retirement three months after that Pollard extension, asked the athletic director to extend his record-setting tenure to keep continuity and stability on the university’s front porch while it underwent change at the top.
Or so the story went.
“I don’t know that I’d say that’s 100 percent accurate,” Pollard said last month when I presented him with that scenario at the Cyclone Tailgate Tour.
“It’s close.”
Whatever the exact machinations, Pollard will enter his 22nd year guiding Iowa State athletics this fall, but, you know, he won’t be forever.
“I’ve basically said if this was a game of soccer, we’d be in extra time,” Pollard, 61, told me. “Nobody knows how much time is left on the clock, including the player.
“A big thing for (wife) Ellen and me, is there is a ‘next,’ and we want to physically and mentally be able to enjoy ‘next,’ but, at the same time, I want to make sure when that day comes, that we hand it off in as good a spot as can be.”
Which is no small reason why that retirement many were expecting was postponed when Wintersteen told him her career was winding to its end. After being at a place for two decades, what’s a few more years? Especially if it helps keep that place you care deeply about better situated for the future.
Eventually, though, that postponement will end. That future will arrive – without Pollard.
“At some point and time that’s going to happen for all of us, right?” Pollard, who recently became a grandfather, said. “When’s the right time to do that? We’ll have to figure that out.
“It’s a work in progress.”
That work is complicated by the sheer volume of volatility collegiate sports are currently enduring. When the industry’s leaders become regulars at congressional testimony, it’s a pretty good sign that things are not going smoothly and orderly. And even more locally, Iowa State just had a head coaching change in football, axed its gymnastics program, began a women’s wrestling program, projects a future budget shortfall and has something like a $200 million development underway with CyTown.
I’m not saying an AD changeover will be like a couple of jugglers trying to pass flaming chainsaws, but I mean, maybe I am?
“At some point in time, you have to transition it to whatever comes next,” Pollard said, “and unfortunately, our industry, the ground’s changing under our feet as we talk. We’re going to have to figure out how to deal with that part of it, and I think a big part for Iowa State is just making sure our financial situation is as solid as it can be.
“It’s clearly not what it once was, but we’re never going back to those days, either.”
Budget issues softened, but still significant
It made headlines last year when Iowa State athletics presented that it was projecting a $147 million budget deficit through 2031, largely, the school said, due to the House settlement that allowed for revenue sharing with student-athletes. Essentially, it was a new $20 million-plus yearly line item for a department whose budget only eclipsed $100 million in 2022.
The Cyclones, through internal alterations, have been able to cut that project deficit, essentially, in half, Pollard said. Still, something like a $75 million budget shortfall over the next five years is nobody’s idea of a good time.
“The low-hanging fruit has been picked,” Pollard said. “You can’t just always go back to raise ticket prices, donations – that’s going to have to be a part of it, just plain and simple, but that’s not going to get us there, either.
“There’s going to have to be some other decisions that are made, whether it’s campus-wise, regents-wise or state-wise.”
Pollard noted there could be changes to how Iowa State handles its tuition, scholarships and student fees. The state, he said, could make the athletic department the beneficiaries of a gambling tax hike or provide direct support for CyTown, which the university is betting on being an “economic engine.”
“There’s just things like that,” Pollard said. “There’s still some fruit to be picked, but it’s not the low-hanging fruit.”
Which begs the obvious question – is any of that fruit of the fermented variety?
Will Iowa State sell alcohol at games?
Pollard has long been resistant to calls to serve alcohol to the general public at Jack Trice Stadium and Hilton Coliseum.
It’s been a consistent position for the better part of two decades. You may remember he said, “People are flat-out slobs,” last year when asked for reasons why Iowa State doesn’t sell booze at games. It made the news and everything.
Still, a $75 million deficit is a $75 million deficit, and, well, booze means dough.
“It’s something we’re considering,” Pollard said. “Continuing to discuss.”
Iowa State has been selling alcohol at Jack Trice Stadium in recent years when musical acts have taken up residence, and that’s been something of an educational experience for Iowa State.
Reviews I’ve gotten have been hit-and-miss in how well it’s actually worked from a fan perspective. Which is to say, the expedience with which you can get a beer hasn’t been great. Of course, that is exactly the sort of thing Iowa State is trial-running during these concerts.
“The stadium’s not built to clog the concourses for people standing in line to go to the bathroom or go to the concession stands,” Pollard said.
Then there’s also the 4,000 people who leave Iowa State football games at halftime to hit the tailgate lots before returning to the game. If Jack Trice Stadium goes wet, re-entry goes away.
“As the person who will get the emails from those 4,000 people,” Pollard said, “that will be a tough pill for those people to swallow.
“There’s tradeoffs, so those are things we’ve got to work our way through.”
Ultimately, though, the door is open. Or, rather, it is being kicked down by a $75 million deficit. Which is enough to convert longtime holdouts like Iowa State – and, specifically, Pollard – to reconsider their stance.
“As athletics director, I’m the voice for the campus,” Pollard said, “so to say it was Jamie Pollard who didn’t want to sell alcohol, that was just me representing the university’s decision. I agreed with the decision, but it wasn’t just my decision.
“Secondly, we have to look at the fruit that’s not low-hanging, and there will be tradeoffs. I’ve had several donors that are upset if we sell beer. But that will be a discussion with those people, ‘If we do this, this is why we’ve had to do it.’”
Tailgate Tour turns 20
After doing media interviews, shaking hands and talking ball at the Cyclone Tailgate Tour stop at SingleSpeed Brewing, Pollard made his way to the end of the brewery’s long bar to order a flight of beer.
Before long, he was at the microphone. As the sun streamed in through the windows behind him, he addressed the couple of hundred Iowa State fans spending their lunch hour welcoming the Cyclone big shots to northeast Iowa.
There was talk of the success of the last year. The optimism for the future. There was, too, a bit of reminiscing about the 20 years of Tailgate Tours that have made their way across the state. This entire operation – one that reaches thousands of Cyclone fans in their hometowns every year – has been Pollard’s project.
The first era of those road trips created connections. The next sustained and grew them.
After talking to the Cyclone faithful, shaking some more hands and talking some more ball, Pollard walked back to the Iowa State bus, bound for the next stop.
Iowa State columnist Travis Hines has covered the Cyclones for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune since 2012. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him on X at @TravisHines21.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Iowa City’s deer population is growing – with the latest data showing nearly 560 deer in just under five square miles.
On May 14, the city asked the state’s Natural Resources Commission for professional sharpshooting, but that request was denied.
The police department received 35 calls for deer collisions last year. According to the city’s 2026 drone survey, the population has risen 16% to about 116 deer per square mile.
Concern for driver safety is one of the reasons the city wants to bring the number down to a safer level of 25 deer per square mile.
City management’s perspective
Assistant city manager Kirk Lehmann said although an urban bow hunt is the long-term strategy for population management, the city is working towards a hard reset with the sharpshooting.
“We do believe the data suggests that some sort of targeted sharpshoot is going to be necessary and ultimately that will depend on approval by the Natural Resources Commission,” said Lehmann. “We look forward to continuing working with them and the DNR.”
He said the NRC wants to see more results from the city’s urban bow hunt program before signing off on it.
Participation in the urban bow hunt is growing, with only 3 deer harvested in 2020 and 62 deer by 22 hunters in 2025. Lehmann said that was a 40% increase from the past year.
“When it comes to urban bow hunts, that does allow hunters to get additional buck tags and so that’s a popular incentive,” he said.
Lehmann said the city is also working to increase outreach and the amount of land available for the hunt.
A professional sharpshoot would be paid for locally – and Lehmann said it was included in the fiscal year budget.
A resident’s perspective
Seeing deer is a near daily occurrence at George Rickey’s house on the east side of town – in sunshine, rain or snow.
“It’s a nice city, nice community, and I didn’t realize I was moving into a wildlife preserve!“ he said. ”Recently, it has really exploded.”
Although he enjoys seeing the deer, he points out the possibility of disease and the danger to drivers as concerns – as his friend has hit two deer in the past two years.
“I’d rather see them in my backyard and peacefully wandering around than in my windshield,” he said. “Because I’m a former EMT and I can tell you that those kind of accidents don’t end up really well.“
Rickey said he wouldn’t be a fan of a sharpshoot as he wants the management to be extra cautious and said a bow hunt would have more “control.”
In the meantime, Rickey said the deer are pretty friendly when he encounters them – recounting a recent time a neighbor was selling their house and five deer wandered through his backyard.
“I said, there’s a great selling point if you’re selling to a family that’s got kids… ‘Hey look, we’re going to move in right next door to a game preserve!’” he said, laughing.
Although he said he drives carefully on roads that deer frequent, he will continue to enjoy seeing them in the neighborhood.
“Well, they’re here, live with them. Just try to work it out where everybody can coexist,” he said.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
The Iowa State Cyclones have been making up for lost time recently, securing commitments from several high school football players to bolster their Class of 2027.
After some recent commitments, there are now 14 players committed to play for head coach Jimmy Rogers in the future. Two of them happen to be quarterbacks, Cash Hollingshead and Blake Moser.
Both players took part in camps recently in Ames and performed well enough to receive scholarship offers. They didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity, accepting the offers shortly after receiving them.
However, they won’t be competing against each other on the quarterback depth chart in the future. Instead, Hollingshead is going to be targeting Moser in the passing game, with the talented athlete officially accepting a challenge from the Cyclones.
Iowa State secures commitment from Blake Moser
Moser took part in the drills at camp at wide receiver and has committed to Iowa State, looking to give the skill position a chance instead of accepting an offer from the Portland State Vikings, Idaho Vandals, Montana Grizzlies or Northern Arizona Lumberjacks to play quarterback.
“I want to play receiver, and I really like what’s going on here,” Moser said, via Bill Seals of Cyclone Report (subscription required).
Listed at 6 feet and 180 pounds, Moser was as dynamic with his legs as his arm during his junior year. He completed 155-of-233 pass attempts for 2,612 yards with 39 touchdowns and only six interceptions.
On the ground, he racked up 850 yards and 16 touchdowns, showing incredible athleticism that Rogers and Iowa State are going to look to take full advantage of, initiating his transition to wide receiver.
Blake Moser has athleticism to successfully transition to wide receiver
Moser impressed during his opportunity at camp, showing incredible speed in his 40-yard dash and a skill set the coaching staff thinks will translate to wide receiver after playing quarterback and running back in high school.
“I ran a 4.37 for my 40, so I think initially they liked my speed and then my playmaking ability.
“When I was running one-on-ones, like even in high school I’ve been playing quarterback and running back, but was able to go out and get some really good reps. (Coach Jimmy Rogers) just told me I’m just good at football and one of those players that they really want to develop,” the Lake Stevens product said.
It will certainly be interesting to see how his senior year goes. Knowing that a positional change is coming once he begins his career with the Cyclones, it is fair to wonder if he will start the transition during his senior year with Lake Stevens.
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