Current and former Iowa, Iowa State athletes join gambling lawsuit

Eleven current and former athletes at Iowa and Iowa State have joined a federal lawsuit that accuses an Iowa law enforcement agency of illegally obtaining gambling information of more than 40 athletes and hundreds of students at both campuses in early 2023.

The 51-page motion to intervene, which was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court of Southern Iowa, joins 26 athletes who filed the original lawsuit in April.

The suit alleges Iowa’s Division of Criminal Investigation violated the athletes’ civil rights and conducted an unreasonable seizure through the Fourth and 14th Amendments. According to both filings, DCI is accused of using geofence technology at Iowa and ISU’s athletic facilities to identify online sports wagering accounts for phone apps that were opened or active. The agency then used analytic software to obtain reports detailing the dates, times and geolocations of those accounts and acquired subpoenas to secure geolocation data and contents of electronic communication.

The newest plaintiffs include current Iowa State wrestler Paniro Johnson, former Iowa football player Terry Roberts, former Iowa wrestler Brennan Swafford, former Iowa State wrestlers Corey Cabanban, Samuel Schuyler, Carter Schmidt, Nathan Schon, Drew Woodley, former Iowa State track athlete Cameron “Cam” Jones, former Iowa State football player Jeremiah Mathis III and former Iowa men’s basketball equipment manager Evan Schuster. They seek damages, attorney fees and demand a jury trial.

Attorneys representing the new plaintiffs include Chris Sandy of Spirit Lake, Iowa; Grant Gerleman and James Roberts of Addison, Texas. They join Des Moines-based attorneys Van Plumb, Matt Boles and Adam Witosky, who filed the original lawsuit.

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Photo: Jeffrey Becker / Imagn Images