An lawyer for former Iowa State gamers charged with unlawful sports activities wagering has accused the state of launching a “warrantless” investigation in 2023 that focused Iowa State and University of Iowa athletes “without reasonable cause,” leading to some to lose their remaining NCAA eligibility.

In a movement filed Monday, lawyer Van Plumb, who represents former Iowa State soccer gamers Isaiah Lee and others charged within the sports activities wagering probe, cited current depositions with brokers from Iowa’s Division of Criminal Investigation that define how the inquiry started. Fifteen Iowa State and Iowa athletes, primarily soccer gamers, have been charged final summer time, primarily for making sports activities wagers on FanDuel or DraftKings underneath one other individual’s account. Several of the athletes have pleaded responsible to a decreased cost of underage playing.

The movement states that Brian Sanger, particular agent for Iowa’s Division of Criminal Investigation, obtained entry to a software program device known as Kibana that allowed him to view using on-line betting functions in sure amenities by a “GeoFence.” Sanger allegedly first used the software program to evaluate underage playing at a freshman/sophomore dormitory on the University of Iowa, however finally was instructed he couldn’t pursue the inquiry.

Only after Sanger allegedly used the identical software program to put a GeoFence round an Iowa athletic facility, restricted to athletes, coaches and workers, did he obtain “the green light to continue the investigation,” the movement states.

“The result was the indictment of a handful of Iowa’s Student Athletes even though the privacy of hundreds had been invaded,” the movement reads. “During Special Agent Sanger’s deposition on January 19, 2024, he stated that he cannot remember why he decided to conduct the warrantless searches but that he was concerned about things such as people infiltrating Iowa’s sports team to gain insider information or match fixing.”

The same GeoFence was positioned round Iowa State’s athletic amenities, which finally led to athletes being charged.

Athletes at Iowa and Iowa State confronted fees of tampering with information — for allegedly falsifying info used to register accounts on cellular sports activities wagering apps — or underage playing. Lee, a beginning defensive lineman for ISU, left the crew in August after being charged with tampering with information. Among the 115 bets he performed on a cellular app, 12 have been on Iowa State soccer video games.

The movement filed Monday, looking for discretionary discovery, states that Sanger and a crew of DCI brokers acted “without reasonable cause,” noting that no warrant, complaints or ideas of unlawful playing had been obtained earlier than they started the investigation. Plumb’s submitting additionally disputed Sanger’s declare in his deposition that solely athletes who wagered on accounts registered to different folks have been topic to felony fees.

“There is a possibility that only high-profile athletes were targeted when charges were filed,” the movement states.

In a press release to ESPN later Monday, Plumb stated that “the motions are the direct result of information learned during the depositions … wherein Special Agent Sanger chose to use software that allowed him to access people’s private information without a warrant which raises Constitutional issues involving illegal searches and seizures.”