Former Toledo player, Lima Senior grad charged with point-shaving

TOLEDO - Former Lima Senior and University of Toledo men's basketball player Sammy Villegas has been charged with point-shaving while playing for the Rockets during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons.

In a federal indictment filed in federal court in Detroit on June 30, Villegas is charged with conspiracy to influence sports contests by bribery. The charge is a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The indictment states Villegas received money and other things of value in exchange for attempting to control the point spread in Toledo's games. It cites an example of him deliberately missing free throws in a game against Central Michigan on Feb. 4, 2006.

It also lists numerous meetings and phone calls between Villegas and unknown conspirators and states he paid another teammate, not named in the indictment, who was a participant in the conspiracy.

A message left for Villegas' attorney, John Belanger, was not returned.

Villegas, a 2001 Lima Senior graduate, played two seasons for the Spartans. The 6-foot, 6-inch wing player averaged 14 points a game for his senior season at Lima Senior.

He was named the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year in 2003 after scoring 10.8 points a game as a redshirt freshman. He averaged 13.7 points a game as a sophomore, but his scoring averages fell to 9.3 points a game and 6.0 points a game his last two seasons with the Rockets.

After shooting 39 percent and 45 percent on field goals his first two seasons at Toledo, his percentages dropped to 36 percent and 35 percent his final two seasons.

After leaving Toledo, Villegas played professionally in Puerto Rico.

He grew up in Carolina, Puerto Rico, a city of around 200,000 people near San Juan. He moved to the United States to pursue his dream of playing in the NBA and landed in Lima in the fall of 1999.

Villegas first moved to Florida before coming to Lima. He and another Puerto Rican player, Jonatan Rivera, were required by the Ohio High School Athletic Association to sit out the first nine games of the 1999-2000 season while questions about their eligibility were studied.

Rivera, a year older than Villegas, played one season at Lima Senior. The Spartans reached the regional championship game and had a 19-6 record Villegas' last season at Lima Senior.

In 2007, University of Toledo football player Harvey McDougle was also charged with a similar offense. Those charges were later dropped.