Man who helped recruit players into a sprawling NCAA basketball point-shaving scheme pleads guilty

One of the so-called fixers in a sprawling betting scheme to cash in on big bets on rigged NCAA basketball games pleaded guilty Monday, according to the federal prosecutors’ office in Philadelphia.

Jalen Smith appeared in federal court in Philadelphia and pleaded guilty to wire fraud and bribery charges, becoming the first of 26 people charged in the scheme to formally do so. It came a week before the start of March Madness, in which bettors will wager billions legally — and illegally ...