Chris Webber’s father admitted to a grand jury that he accepted gifts from banned Michigan booster Ed Martin, according to court documents filed by his lawyer.
Webber, a former star basketball player at Michigan, was indicted in federal court along with his father, Mayce Webber Jr., and his aunt, Charlene Johnson, in September on charges of making a false statement to a grand jury and conspiring to obstruct justice in the federal money laundering case against Martin.
All three have pleaded innocent. Each charge is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Martin pleaded guilty in May and admitted to loaning large sums of money to Webber, which the Sacramento Kings’ star forward has repeatedly denied. In April, Webber admitted receiving small cash gifts from Martin, but nothing in the neighborhood of the $280,000 in loans that the federal indictment against Martin alleges.
In the motion to dismiss the charges against him, the elder Webber “acknowledged that Martin had given some gifts to him, and Martin put a hotel bill on a charge card and was paid back.”
It is a violation of NCAA rules for boosters to pay for hotel rooms for players or their families.
But the primary reason why the University imposed sanction on its basketball program Nov. 9 was the $616,000 that Martin allegedly loaned to Webber and three other former Wolverines – Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor and Louis Bullock.
In addition to dropping the championship banners and removing all other references to the relevant players and teams, Michigan chose to forfeit games won while those four players were on the team, including two trips to the Final Four in 1992 and 1993. The Athletic Department will also pay $450,000 in fines to the NCAA.
Michigan basketball will face a two-year period of probation and will be banned from this year’s postseason.
The NCAA Infractions Committee will evaluate these self-imposed sanctions Feb. 14, when a delegation of Michigan athletic department officials meets with the committee in Florida.
A final verdict from the committee is not expected until several weeks after the meeting.
– The Associated Press contributed to this report.