IOWA — More than two dozen current and former Iowa Hawkeye and Iowa State Cyclone athletes have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the State of Iowa, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and law enforcement officials of violating their constitutional protections from illegal searches and seizures. The group of athletes is seeking unspecified damages for loss of competition time and the impact it has had on them personally and financially.
The athletes were all charged in 2023 with violating state laws on sports gambling after an investigation from the DCI. DCI agents relied on a technology owned by an outside company, GeoComply, that placed a ‘geofence‘ around athletic facilities at UI and ISU to find evidence of possible illegal gambling activity. The results of the geofence were used to spur the investigation, leading to charges.
However, the athletes and their attorney – Van Plumb – contest that the use of the geofence is tantamount to a warrantless search. The lawsuit contends that DCI agents had no information about illegal gambling at the schools until they used the geofence to identify it. GeoComply has ended its contract with the State of Iowa in response to these same concerns.
Ultimately, those athletes under the age of 21 were charged with gambling underage. However, prosecutors chose to pursue charges of Tampering With Records against athletes who were old enough to gamble but were accused of using other people’s accounts to place their own bets. Prosecutors eventually dropped all of those charges as the state’s investigation methods were again called into question by Plumb.
The athletes are seeking unspecified damages, claiming the charges against them caused them loss of reputation, loss of opportunity and potentially loss of income. Eyioma Uwazurike, a former Iowa State Cyclone, remains suspended by the NFL after the investigation uncovered his gambling activity.
The full list of athletes in the lawsuit includes:
- Eyioma Uwazurike
- Noah Shannon
- Nelson Brands
- Tony Cassioppi
- Jirehl Brock
- Hunter Dekkers
- Isiah Lee
- Arland Bruce IV
- Dodge Sauser
- Deshawn Hanika
- Ahron Ulis
- Aaron Blom
- Jack Johnson
- Jake Remsburg
- Jeremiah Williams
- Harry Bracy
- Howard Brown
- Keaton Anthony
- Jacob Henderson
- Gehrig Christensen
- Benjamin Tallman
- Abe Assad
- Cobe Siebrecht
- Cullan Shriever
- Patrick Kennedy
- Jake English
The list of defendants named in the lawsuit includes DPS Commissioner Stephan Bayens, DCI Director Paul Feddersen, DCI Assistant Director David Jobes, DCI Agent Troy Nelson and DCI Agent Brian Sanger as well as the State of Iowa, Iowa DPS and the DCI. DPS Commissioner Bayens has previously given his full support to the investigation and has questioned why prosecutors chose to drop charges.