Fort Collins – Five current or former Colorado State University football players, and two Fort Collins residents, were charged with bank fraud Wednesday by the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office.
Adakole Brian Ike Abata, Calee Jo Chleboun, Micah Lamar Crews, Daniel Aaron Foster, Preston Louis Garcia, Robert Bruce Herbert and Tramell V. McGill were charged with fraud, theft and identity theft, according to Linda Jensen, spokeswoman for the district attorney.
Specifics regarding the scope of the alleged crimes and other details relating to the fraud charges were not available, but the mother of one of the players said at least one charge is related to $2,500 that was fraudulently withdrawn from a credit union bank account in December.
Crews’ mother, Lydean, said the district attorney’s office told her during an investigation this spring that the case was part of a larger, three-state fraud ring.
In addition to Crews, Abata and Herbert play for the CSU football team. Foster and McGill, a running back at Arizona Western College in Yuma, are former CSU football players. Arizona Western suspended McGill Wednesday.
“We take these charges very seriously,” said CSU football coach Sonny Lubick. “Because of the nature of these allegations, the players involved have been temporarily suspended from the football team pending the outcome of the police investigation.”
Lubick said CSU will cooperate completely with the investigation. “This type of behavior is not tolerated in our program,” he said.
Arrest warrants were filed Tuesday. A grand jury investigation began in February and continues to look at new evidence, Jensen said. The arrest warrant affidavit has been sealed, she said.
Crews’ father, Mark, said his son was “intimidated” last winter into handing over his automated bank card and personal ID number to upperclassmen who deposited a fraudulent $2,500 check into Crews’ account. Crews then was paid $500 for his help.
The teenager has refused to name other people involved, his father said.
Three of the suspects turned themselves in to the Larimer County Detention Center in Fort Collins on Wednesday, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Kathy Messick.
CSU spokeswoman Dell Rae Moellenberg said university authorities only learned of the charges Wednesday.
Although players have been suspended from the team, they can continue attending class unless they are suspended or expelled from school, said Anne Hudgens, executive director of campus life.
CSU could also give interim suspensions to students charged with felonies once officials learn more about specific charges, Hudgens said.
Herbert, a cornerback and kick-return specialist charged with two counts of theft, is the only one who has made a name for himself on the field. A senior in his third year at CSU after transferring from Compton (Calif.) Community College, Herbert started every game in 2005 and was named honorable mention All-Mountain West Conference.
But his career has been plagued with leg injuries, and in preseason practice, he lost his starting job.
Staff writer Robert Sanchez contributed to this report.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
