{"id":42363,"date":"2020-08-07T14:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-07T11:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/inside-benjamin-bifalcos-alleged-plot-to-fix-an-ncaa-basketball-game\/"},"modified":"2020-08-07T14:15:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-07T11:15:00","slug":"inside-benjamin-bifalcos-alleged-plot-to-fix-an-ncaa-basketball-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/inside-benjamin-bifalcos-alleged-plot-to-fix-an-ncaa-basketball-game\/","title":{"rendered":"#Inside Benjamin Bifalco\u2019s alleged plot to fix an NCAA basketball game"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Inside Benjamin Bifalco\u2019s alleged plot to fix an NCAA basketball game<\/a><\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n Benjamin Bifalco graduated from Wagner College on Staten Island last year with a major in finance and minors in government and political science<\/a>. But he did his most intense research for a senior project at which he failed miserably: attempting to fix an NCAA college basketball game. For this, he is now facing up to six months in prison.<\/p>\n

In February, Bifalco, 25, pleaded guilty to attempted sports bribery involving a basketball game between two unidentified Division I schools.<\/p>\n

Sources say the contest in question was a Dec. 16, 2018, game that the Wagner Seahawks and the heavily favored St. John\u2019s University Red Storm played at the Johnnies\u2019 home court at Carnesecca Arena in Queens.<\/p>\n

In a tape-recorded talk four days before the game, Bifalco told his childhood friend, Colombo mob-family associate Joseph Amato Jr., that he had been dreaming about fixing a basketball game since freshman year. He also told Amato that he\u2019d already paid $7,500 to three Seahawks starters he\u2019d known since they were freshmen and that he was going to bet $50,000 on the game.<\/p>\n

During the discussion, Bifalco told Amato that his cash outlay was half of what he had promised the players if they agreed to lose the game by more than 20 points.<\/p>\n

When he won his bet, he said, \u201cI\u2019ll give them the other half each. They each got $2,500, and I\u2019ll give them the rest of the money when it\u2019s done with,\u201d according to a transcript<\/a> of the conversation.<\/p>\n

Amato knows a little about sports betting \u2014 he\u2019s charged with several illegal gambling counts in a related 16-defendant case \u2014 and human nature, too. He asked his college buddy with a touch of sarcasm if he was sure the players would deliver \u201cbecause everyone is really personable and everyone will tell you the truth?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Joseph<\/img>
Joseph Amato Jr.<\/span>Matthew McDermott<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Bifalco stated seven times. \u201cThey\u2019re my f\u2013king boys since f\u2013king freshman year and we\u2019ve always talked it,\u201d he said, explaining that in their early years at the small liberal-arts Staten Island college, the team was so bad \u201cthere was never an opportunity because Wagner never had a spread [betting line]\u201d on its games.<\/p>\n

Amato also wondered where Bifalco got \u201c50K to bet on a game?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/img><\/p>\n

He was still \u201ctrying to figure out\u201d where to get the cash to bet, Bifalco replied. And in an apparent effort to convince his friend to front it to him, he explained that he did \u201cresearch on like how to throw a game\u201d and knew what he was doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to get at least two people who touch the ball for more than 30 minutes in the game,\u201d he said, and decided that \u201cjust to make myself safe\u201d he would \u201cget three people that touch the ball more than 30 minutes in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bifalco said that he had told his No. 1 Seahawk that he needed him to \u201cget me two people that play more than 30\u201d because they have \u201cthe biggest impact on the game, so he called them down to his dorm room, and we f\u2013king met and we talked and they were like yo,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me explain the scenario,\u201d Bifalco continued. \u201cWagner is 4 and 4; that\u2019s their record. They\u2019re playing St. John\u2019s. St. John\u2019s is 9 and 0. I said, \u2018If you guys lose by one point or you guys lose by 100, it don\u2019t make a f\u2013king difference. You\u2019re gonna lose to St. John\u2019s.\u2019 They\u2019re f\u2013king unbelievable this year, and they might even make the NCAA tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWagner versus St. John\u2019s?\u201d asked Amato, who likely didn\u2019t believe what he was hearing from his college buddy.<\/p>\n

\"Benjamin<\/img>
Benjamin Bifalco was among 20 people leaving Brooklyn Federal court after being arrested for allegedly trying to fix an NCAA basketball game.<\/span>William Miller<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d said Bifalco. \u201cSt. John\u2019s is home, so this is why it\u2019s gonna work,\u201d he said: \u201cThey\u2019re gonna have the refs on their side already. Wagner\u2019s team sucks. They honestly suck. So, if we can have three people that impact the game the most, miss free throws, bring the shot clock down to one [second] before every shot, control the pace of the game, so it\u2019s not high-scoring.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Wagner to lose by a lot of points, it would make sense for his charges to shoot quickly \u2014 and also miss, of course \u2014 when they got the ball so St. Johns would have more chances to run up the score.<\/p>\n

But Bifalco was thinking out of the box.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo hedge myself,\u201d he said, \u201cI\u2019m gonna take St. John\u2019s\u2019 spread, and I\u2019m gonna take the under,\u201d or bet that the two teams would score less than the \u201cover \/under number\u201d which was 148. \u201cI told them, \u2018I need you guys to score the least as possible.\u2019 They were like, yo. They were like, \u2018You have our word, we are going to do everything in our f\u2013 king possibility to do this.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if they screw you over?\u201d asked Amato.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, they\u2019re not like that, bro. You could even come and meet them with me,\u201d he replied. \u201cI\u2019m snapping them back and forth; they\u2019re snapping me right now, they\u2019re like \u2018Yo, we\u2019re honestly gonna do everything we f\u2013king can,\u2019 \u201d he said, indicating they were texting each other using Snapchat.<\/p>\n

On game day, a couple hours before tipoff, Bifalco called Amato and said that all systems were go and that he had \u201cpersonally\u201d bet $17,500 on the game. The betting line ended up at 17, a few points less than 20, so Bifalco had a cushion.<\/p>\n

But he was \u201cworried\u201d that one, or maybe two of his players might \u201cfoul out.\u201d That was \u201cnot going to be f\u2013king good,\u201d he said, but he was confident he\u2019d still win his bet and be able to \u201cput a down payment on a house.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as it turned out, Bifalco was all talk.<\/p>\n

Bifalco wasn\u2019t able to pay off any of the Wagner Seahawks and didn\u2019t wager any money on the game, either.<\/p>\n

That was perhaps the luckiest thing about his harebrained scheme. That\u2019s because St. John\u2019s, after leading by only a single point at halftime, went on to win easily, 73-58, but not by enough to cover the 17-point spread. He did have the right idea about betting the under, though.<\/p>\n

Also lucky was that Amato didn\u2019t trust Bifalco to fix the game and, therefore, never bet any money \u2014 meaning Bifalco wasn\u2019t sideways with the Colombo family.<\/p>\n

Bifalco admitted to Brooklyn federal Judge I. Leo Glasser that he did \u201ccommunicate through Snapchat\u201d and \u201coffered a sum of money to a player to lose by a certain amount of points,\u201d but when \u201cthe player refused to accept the money, nothing further was done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHad you actually made an offer of payment to this basketball player?\u201d asked Glasser.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Your Honor,\u201d Bifalco replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cWas there somebody else involved in the scheme?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, Your Honor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just you and the basketball player?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Your Honor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bifalco had taken a job out of college working for local Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis but was fired the day he was indicted.<\/p>\n

Technically, Bifalco faces up to five years in prison on Aug. 18 \u2014 and up to six months behind bars, according to part of a plea agreement with the government. But Bifalco\u2019s lawyer is hoping for leniency.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Bifalco\u2019s activities were more of inappropriate braggadocio than anything else,\u201d said attorney Vincent Martinelli. \u201cWe are hoping for a non-jail sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is an edited version of an article by Jerry Capeci that first appeared on ganglandnews<\/a>.com.<\/em>\n <\/div>\n

\n

If you want to read more Sports News articles, you can visit our General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Inside Benjamin Bifalco\u2019s alleged plot to fix an NCAA basketball game” Benjamin Bifalco graduated from Wagner College on Staten Island last year with a major in finance and minors in government and political science. But he did his most intense research for a senior project at which he failed miserably: attempting to fix an NCAA…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[50144],"class_list":["post-42363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-inside-benjamin-bifalcos-alleged-plot-to-fix-an-ncaa-basketball-game"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}