According to WDTV in North Carolina, An indictment against a third person in the UNC football scandal was unsealed Monday. Patrick Mitchell Jones of Cartersville is accused of trying to get UNC defensive end Robert Quinn to sign with sports agent Terry Watson.
Jones’ employer was listed as a Georgia real estate company. His bond was set at $20,000.
According to the indictment, Jones gave a third person $725 for the benefit of Quinn. The indictment identifies that person as Constance Orr – a UNC softball player.
Watson appeared in an Orange County courtroom last week. Investigators allege he gave improper benefits to former UNC players to encourage them to sign with him when they later turned pro. North Carolina law requires agents to register with the Secretary of State’s office and prohibits offering gifts to entice athletes to sign representation contracts.
Watson is charged with 13 counts of athlete-agent inducement and one count of obstruction of justice. Bond was set at $50,000. Athlete-agent inducement is a Class I felony that carries a maximum sentence of 15 months in prison. Violations could also carry civil penalties of up to $25,000.
Investigators with the North Carolina Secretary of State’s office have been looking into whether sports agents broke the law by giving gifts to players for months.
According to search warrants released Wednesday, Watson contacted former UNC football players before he was officially registered as an agent in North Carolina back in 2010 – giving them gifts and providing hotel rooms for them in Miami, Florida.
The warrants allege he funneled $18,200 to former UNC player Greg Little in payments ranging from $5,000 to $2,200 and gave player Marvin Austin gifts in addition to $2,000 in cash.
Former player Robert Quinn is also named in the indictments – saying Watson bought him a plane ticket to Miami, got him a hotel room there, and gave him $100.
In all, investigators allege Watson contacted at least 5 players nearly 400 times. Thirty nine of those contacts are considered illegal.