Ex‑IU Guard Todd Leary Pleads Guilty to Fraud
HAMILTON COUNTY, Ind — Prosecutors say former IU player Todd Leary pleaded guilty Tuesday to a felony fraud count.
Investigators say Leary took money from a father for coaching and an AAU program that did not exist. He was arrested in October on 10 felony counts.
Hoosier attorney Mario Massillamany of Massillamany, Jeter and Carson LLP called the outcome a strong resolution for the defense.
“This sentence is phenomenal for Todd Leary, with his criminal history getting probation and restitution. I think it’s a really good deal that his defense attorney was able to obtain for him.”
He said the deal centers on Leary agreeing to coach a father’s son and build what he described as a planned AAU program. “He basically agreed to coach a son of a parent for basketball. He was going to create an AAU team, rent a facility, purchase equipment, and train this team and run this team in hopes of getting this son of the victim to the next level.”
The plea agreement calls for a suspended sentence, probation and restitution, with sentencing set for July 15.
The judge will ultimately decide whether to accept the agreement. “The judge on July 15 will make a determination on whether he is going to agree to the plea that the prosecution and the defense have come to, and either accept that plea or reject that plea on that date by throwing Todd in jail.”
He also said prosecutors review plea agreements with victims. “One of the things that the prosecutor’s office does when there’s a victim such as this is they will go over the plea terms with that victim to make sure they feel comfortable about that.”
He added that set-term agreements can move quickly. “In a case like this, where they have a set-term plea, it’s going to take probably about 15 to 30 minutes. Now, if there were certain parts of the plea agreement that were open, such as any sort of jail time, it would have run longer.”.
