Adidas fixer gets 1 year's probation in college basketball corruption case

The Associated Press ·
COLLEGE STATION, TX - JANUARY 11: The referee holds an Adidas basketball with an Aggie emblem during a timeout during the SEC Men's basketball game between the LSU Tigers and Texas A&M Aggies on January 11, 2017, at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas.
Icon Sportswire / Getty

NEW YORK - A former Adidas consultant who became a key government witness in a college basketball corruption case has been sentenced to one year of probation.

Thomas ''T.J.'' Gassnola received the term on Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan after apologizing for his crimes.

Gassnola had pleaded guilty in a scheme to funnel secret payments to the families of top recruits and agreed to testify against a former Adidas executive and two other defendants at a 2018 trial. All three were convicted on fraud charges.

He told jurors he was among a crew of fixers conducting what he described as ''black ops'' to try to get prized prospects to sign with Adidas-sponsored basketball programs.

As part of probation, the 47-year-old Gassnola's will have to serve two months of home detention.

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