Federal lawsuit filed by Iowa athletes against Department of Criminal Justice
New development comes after some athletes saw charges dropped against them in sports betting investigation.
Attorneys for more than two dozen athletes that played for Iowa University, Iowa State and Ellsworth Community College have filed a 47 page lawsuit against the Division of Criminal Investigation. The lawsuit states that the athletes had their constitutional rights violated when state criminal investigators used geolocation software to track activity on their cellphones as part of a widespread sports wagering investigation. The investigation led to criminal charges being placed on the Iowa-based athletes and also resulted in the loss of NCAA eligibility.
“The lives of these young men have been disrupted and altered in ways still yet to be fully seen,” attorneys for the plaintiffs Matt Boles, Adam Witosky and Van Plumb said in a statement.
“It is our hope that through the civil action we can help these young men put their lives back on track and gain a measure of justice for the violation of their rights.”
The attorneys believe Iowa, its Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal Investigation and its agents violated the athletes’ civil rights by using GeoComply software without a warrant to identify phones using mobile sports betting apps within Iowa and Iowa State athletic facilities. While state investigators had warrants to obtain this information and search the phones of the athletes, the lawsuit alleges those warrants were “invalid and unconstitutional” because the information used to get them signed off on were acquired without a warrant. GeoComply is a geolocation software offered to major sportsbooks in order to easily monitor its users.
The plaintiffs are 26 current and former athletes, 16 from the University of Iowa, nine from Iowa State and one from Ellsworth. 13 were on the football team, six wrestled and the other seven played for either the baseball or basketball teams. 16 of the athletes were criminally charged and 12 pled guilty to underage gambling while the others saw their charges dropped but suffered from loss of playing time, the threat of NCAA or NFL sanctions and damage to their athletic career as stated by the lawsuit. More on the 2023 suit can be found here.
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