N.Y. Man Pleads Guilty For Attempting To Fix D1 Basketball Game

• The man who pleaded guilty to attempted match-fixing is Benjamin Bifalco.
• The teams in question were not publicly revealed.
• Match-fixing is why states are trying to limit bets on college games.

NEW YORK – Benjamin Bifalco pleaded guilty on Thursday for attempting to fix an NCAA basketball game back in 2018.

Benjamin Bifalco is part of the Colombo crime family. In 2018, a massive takedown of the crime family took place in New York. Many of the family members have been arrested as a result of that. During the takedown, it was discovered that Bifalco attempted to fix an NCAA Division I game. As such, Bifalco was arrested as well.

Joseph Amato Jr., part of the Colombo crime family, had a wiretap on him. While he had this wiretap on him, he spoke to Bifalco about the attempted match-fixing. Bifalco noted that he was trying to bribe a team to lose outside a point spread. Using this as evidence, police arrested Bifalco for attempted match-fixing.

Back in October of 2019, Bifalco was indicted for the crimes he has committed. Now Bifalco has pleaded guilty for attempted match-fixing. He will be sentenced in June.

Mitigating Match Fixing

The NCAA is often at risk of someone trying to fix the results of games. The reason for that is college athletes are not paid in the traditional sense for the games they play. As such, they are more at risk of taking a bribe to fix games.

That is part of the reason why states like New York have created rules to prevent this. New York does not allow for bets on college teams based in the Empire State. Lawmakers believe creating rules such as these will prevent the possibility of match-fixing.

If states do not have rules against sports betting on local college teams, the colleges themselves will sometimes create such rules. Butler University in Indiana has created rules that no one affiliated with the school may bet on Butler University games.

“Our Sports Wagering Policy, which is supported by our Board of Trustees, is a proactive measure rooted in our commitment to and support of our student-athletes and our athletic programs,” said James Danko, president of Butler University.

Right now, there are a good number of states attempting to legalize sports betting. Many of these states are creating rules that prevent bettors from wagering on local college teams. It is their hope that this will stop attempts of match-fixing from ever happening.

News tags: Benjamin Bifalco | Butler University | Joseph Amato Jr. | New York