Iowa State player's father recorded calls with gaming commission leader over betting probe

In a phone conversation recorded by the father of an Iowa State football player, Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission Administrator Brian Ohorilko appeared to agree with criticism of a gambling probe against several college athletes, according to a new court motion.

According to a transcript of one of the phone calls, he said, "A lot of people don't agree with how things were handled."

Defense attorney Van Plumb argued in the motion Wednesday that prosecutors need to give him copies of records from the gaming commission, writing that transcripts of Ohorilko's phone conversations indicate he has detailed knowledge of the gambling probe.

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Plumb also said Ohorilko was not forthcoming during an Oct. 20 court hearing with all the information he knows about a series of criminal cases against the athletes, writing in Wednesday's motion that the recordings prove "Administrator Ohorilko obviously has more knowledge of this investigation than testified under oath."

Ohorilko did not respond to a call and email seeking comment.

As part of Wednesday's filing, Plumb attached transcripts of what he said are three recorded phone conversations between Ohorilko and Brad Hanika, the father of Iowa State redshirt senior tight end DeShawn Hanika.

In one of the calls, Brad Hanika complained about the validity of the criminal charges against his son, which centered on his alleged use of his mother's DraftKings account to place bets. Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations agents charged him with identify theft under $1,500 and tampering with records.

"What’s the difference between what’s going on here and, say, do you have a Netflix account or Amazon account? Or your family members?" Hanika said, according to the transcript Plumb filed with the court.

"Yeah," Ohorilko said. "Yeah. I mean, it's the same thing."

"I don't know," Hanika said. "What a mess."

"I know," Ohorilko said.

Story County prosecutors agreed last month to drop the charges against DeShawn Hanika after Plumb argued that they had missed a deadline to produce an indictment against the tight end.

Meanwhile, Plumb attached the transcripts of the calls between Brad Hanika and Ohorilko in Wednesday's filing on behalf of another of his clients, former Iowa State and current Denver Broncos defensive end Eyioma Uwazurike. The second-year pro, whom the NFL suspended this summer over accusations that he placed bets on Broncos games on another person's FanDuel account last year, faces charges of identity theft under $1,500 and tampering with records.

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Uwazurike and DeShawn Hanika were two of eight current and former Iowa State athletes charged in the DCI's probe. Prosecutors also have charged five University of Iowa athletes, as well as a student manager.

Lawyer: Did state investigators act improperly in gambling probe?

Wednesday's court filing is part of Plumb's motion for evidence from the gaming commission, including written communications among the commission, the DCI and GeoComply, a company that tracks the location of phones used to place online sports bets to ensure they're being made legally.

Plumb has questioned whether DCI agents improperly used GeoComply's software to find athletes placing bets on their own games. During a hearing on the issue Oct. 20 ― five days before releasing the transcripts of Ohorilko's phone calls ― he asked the gaming commission administrator whether his office produced records tied to the athletes' gambling.

"There were no documents that our offices would have provided (as part of the probe)," Ohorilko said. "Our office did not conduct these investigations. We did not receive a document, as such, from GeoComply or DCI."

Prosecutors have resisted Plumb's motion, saying the gaming commission is a "non-police entity" that did not conduct the criminal investigation. Instead, the gaming commission is investigating whether FanDuel and DraftKings followed state policies aimed at preventing users from placing bets with other people's accounts.

Assistant Story County Attorney David Fountain argued in the hearing that Plumb's request for gaming commission evidence was too broad, calling it "essentially a request for a dragnet review of the state's entire file."

Fountain added that he did not believe his office had the ability to gather records from the gaming commission. He also said in a written court motion that the criminal case came "solely out of DCI."

"That's where Mr. Plumb's investigation should start," Fountain told the judge.

What the gaming commission head said during his court testimony

Most of Ohorilko's testimony centered on GeoComply's software. Under cross-examination from Plumb, he said his staff uses the software to detect whether people place bets from multiple accounts with a single phone. When the software detects that activity, he said, investigators probe whether someone has stolen another user's account or is laundering money.

In August 2022, Ohorilko emailed GeoComply, giving the company permission to let DCI agents use its software. He said the DCI could use the computer system to help uphold an administrative code that dictates how sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings can operate in Iowa.

Ohorilko testified last week that he didn't necessarily think GeoComply needed the gaming commission's permission to give DCI access. But, he added, "If that was a possibility, that was one reason why we crafted the response the way we did."

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He also reiterated that his office did not conduct the criminal investigation. He said the DCI gave him "some information" in July about athletes who may have illegally gambled. He said the commission is using the information to determine whether sports books like FanDuel and DraftKings violated state gambling codes.

But Ohorilko added that one employee did use GeoComply's software to investigate whether Iowa college athletes gambled. He did not provide more information about that probe, and a prosecutor argued Friday that the gaming commission's inquiry may not have been tied to the DCI investigation.

Asked about details of the DCI's case against athletes, Ohorilko said "we may not specifically have first-hand knowledge."

"I am aware of the investigation and received some information," he said at another point.

What the gaming commission head told an Iowa State football player's father

Six weeks before the hearing, during one of his recorded calls with Brad Hanika, Ohorilko indicated that he would offer up more information about the case if a lawyer put him on the stand.

When Hanika asked on Sept. 7 if a company like DraftKings or FanDuel had told the DCI that athletes were betting, Ohorilko said, "I don't believe that," according to the transcript. He added that he couldn't tell Hanika how the DCI began investigating the athletes “because I don’t want to get myself in criminal trouble."

"I get that," Brad Hanika said. "This is all going to come out in these court documents."

"One hundred percent," Ohorilko said. "And I know it will if somebody were to depose me or anybody from our team in a setting where I could actually speak freely about this. But I ― the Commission ― was not involved in this investigation.”

At the same time, Ohorilko told Hanika, the DCI didn't keep his office in the loop on many parts of the case.

“Frankly, they don’t share stuff," Ohorilko said. "And we may not know everything anyway because we’re not certified peace officers and they wouldn’t have any obligation to share that information with us.”

He added that his employees didn't think they would find any problems with how FanDuel or DraftKings operated in Iowa. He said he only has a two-person staff that looks into these problems. Typically, he said, they rely on the companies to report their own errors.

“If they were ever to be caught doing something that they shouldn’t have or not reporting something, those would be historically our stiffest penalties," Ohorilko said. "And so they would voluntarily report.”

'It's just a bad deal'

Hanika, who declined to comment to the Des Moines Register this week, recorded at least three phone calls with Ohorilko from June to September. Ohorilko told the player's father he would answer his questions to help him understand how the criminal process in the cases worked.

At times, Ohorilko expressed sympathy for the Hanika family.

"I feel bad for you guys," he said on June 8. "I really do. I'm sorry you have to deal with this."

Ohorilko also suggested that other law enforcement officials were not convinced that the DCI should be bringing criminal cases against the players. During a June 13 call, Hanika said his family was frustrated that they had to wait so long to learn the outcome of the case against his son. Iowa State had announced that players were under investigation a month earlier.

Ohorilko said during the call that the case might be moving slowly because the DCI agents needed to convince prosecutors to file charges in court.

"I don’t know if everybody looks at it the same way that the DCI looks at it," he said.

"It's just a bad deal," he added. 'And I hope things work out."

During a Sept. 7 call, Hanika questioned how the DCI agents obtained search warrants for the case.

"It's a really good question," Ohorilko said. "And yeah, I mean, you know, off the record, you know, the same question goes to the county attorneys, too.”

He added: “A lot of people don’t agree with how things have been handled.”

Tyler Jett is an investigative reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at tjett@registermedia.com, 515-284-8215, or on Twitter at @LetsJett. He also accepts encrypted messages at tjett@proton.me.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Attorney: Gaming commission leader's calls recorded in betting probe