NDSU Football again puts winning in front of doing the right thing

The NDSU Bison Football team proved once again that winning is more important than doing the right thing. Checking the newspapers today we find out that 10 Bison football players had their day in court today and once again the head football coach goes on record to say that none his players will miss any games. Marvelous!

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Ten North Dakota State University football players pleaded guilty Tuesday to misdemeanor election fraud and were sentenced to community service for faking signatures on proposed ballot measure petitions that they were hired to collect.

Among the players on the nation's top-ranked Football Championship Subdivision team who pleaded guilty Tuesday were starters Samuel Ojuri, Joshua Colville, Marcus Williams and Brendin Pierre. Players Lucas Albers, Aireal Boyd, Demitrius Gray Bryan Shepherd, Antonio Rogers, and Charles Smith III also pleaded guilty.

Each of the players was ordered to serve 360 days of unsupervised probation, complete 50 hours of community service and pay $325 in fees. All of the sentences were deferred, meaning the crime will be expunged from a player's record if he completes the conditions of his sentence.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to the sentences for eight of the 10 players. The state had recommended 1-year suspended sentences for Ojuri and Williams because of prior misdemeanors.

The players declined to comment after the hearing. Quick deferred questions to NDSU.

Bison head coach Craig Bohl has said the team might discipline the players but won't suspend them. The school said he planned to issue a statement later Tuesday.

I have talked to quite a few UND fans that think the way that NDSU is handling this situation is a joke – we have players at UND getting suspended for Minor in Consumption which is a class B misdemeanor and then at NDSU we have football players pleading guilty to class A misdemeanors and they aren’t getting suspended. I think this send a poor message to the fans and especially to the young kids that look up to them. In fact, the NDSU Athletic Director Gene Taylor and the head football coach Craig Bohl are running deflections for their players.

@mikemcfeelykfgo Extremely good.They have the #3 team in the country this week. There isn't a coach in the country that would suspend them
— SiouxFootballInsider (@SiouxFootball) October 2, 2012

#NDSU President Dean Bresciani, AD Gene Taylor and HC Craig Bohl will address the media at 7:30 tonight on petition fraud case
— Dom Izzo (@DomIzzoWDAY) October 2, 2012

EDIT: NDSU Football players back in trouble with the law

As a fan that can remember the NDSU and UND rivalry so many thoughts come to mind – I am sure that others can come up with their own.

Nice to see that nothing has changed at NDSU – also – it will be interesting to see if any of these players are in the lineup next weekend when the Bison play the Colorado State in Fort Collins, Colorado.

"North Dakota State University football coach Craig Bohl says the eight Bison football players charged with petition fraud won't be suspended...at least for now." You can listen to the press conference that was held on AM 740 the fan.

Don't count on any players for NDSU Sitting out this week... Accroding to Jeff Kolpack of the Fargo Forum - NDSU Head Coach Craig Bohl said he's known about situation for quite some time. Players deserve day in court.

Here is the link to the North Dakota Attorney General’s page... [ND AG]

Forum staff reports, INFORUM --- Eight current North Dakota State University football players and one former player are among 11 people facing charges in connection with voter fraud tied to general election ballot measures.

Four of the accused are starters on the football team.

North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem and Secretary of State Al Jaeger identified the individuals charged as: Aireal Boyd, Josh Colville, Josh Gatlin, Demetrius Grey, Jennifer Krahn, Lane O’Brien, Samuel Ojuri, Brendin Pierre, Antonio Rodgers, Bryan Shepherd and Marcus Williams.

All have are charged with facilitation of voter fraud or filing a false statement, according to Stenehjem and Jaeger.

The charges are Class A misdemeanors.

Criminal complaints claim that all circulators of a petition are required to sign an affidavit stating they witnessed all the signatures and that all signatures are genuine.

Some over on Bisonville the Bison fans are taking a wait and see look at the new revelations about their beloved football team –  some seem to think that it’s a minor issue or are already looking for a way to deflect blame and claim that it’s political. Let's blame UND for our problems.

While it's funny because it's NDSU, we will see how this plays out in the coming days; this could end up being a distraction that NDSU didn’t want to have any part of. Some will say that it’s a lot to do about nothing - yeah  okay! I don't think that messing around with elections or committing fraud isn’t something I want to be associated with nor is it a minor infraction.

Break out the tin foil hats

EDIT:One NDSU fan even suggested that this is a conspiracy; I am not making this up. Just for the record – I would highly doubt that the A.G. of North Dakota would simply go on a witch hunt against the other school for something like this.

Wayne Stenehjem was born in Mohall, North Dakota, and he graduated from Bismarck High School in 1971 and Bismarck State College in 1972. He attended the University of North Dakota and the UND School of Law, graduating in 1977.

Jaeger was born in Beulah, ND in 1943. Raised in Beulah, he graduated from its high school in 1961. He attended Bismarck State College and in 1963 earned an Associate of Arts degree. In 1966, he received a Bachelor of Science degree from Dickinson State University majoring in Business Education with a minor in Speech. He also completed post-graduate work at the University of North Dakota

Get out those tin foil hats folks, the North Dakota A.G. is out to get NDSU because he is a graduate of North Dakota.

Seriously?

Lastly, you would have to be a complete imbecil to think that the Attorney General of the great state of North Dakota Wayne Stenehjem and Secretary of the State of North Dakota Al Jaeger would conspire against NDSU just because they went to UND?

Ex-North Dakota State football player pleads guilty in ND theft ring

This is for the people that haven't seen this. It will be interesting to see how the NDSU Bison fans over on Belligerentville spin this. Crickets chirping...

A second former North Dakota State football player has pleaded guilty to felony theft in connection with a theft ring at a Best Buy store in Fargo.

Garrett Johnson was sentenced Monday to the two days he had already served in jail, 50 hours of community service, 18 months of supervised probation and a $500 fee.

In June, former player Greg Reid Jr. pleaded guilty to theft and was given a suspended jail sentence and probation.

Twelve people are charged in the case, which authorities say involves as much as $150,000 in merchandise taken from the store between last September and February.

Johnson, a defensive end from Chaska, Minn., and Reid, a defensive tackle from Milwaukee, Wis., were dismissed from the team in April. [Grand Forks Herald]