PHILADELPHIA, PA — A former organizer of a multistate college basketball point-shaving operation pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Philadelphia to bribery and fraud charges stemming from a scheme involving more than $3 million in wagers on NCAA games, according to federal prosecutors.
Roderick Winkler, 32, of Little Rock, Arkansas, entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro to bribery in sporting contests, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.
Winkler admitted participating in an operation that recruited and paid college basketball players to deliberately underperform, allowing conspirators to place wagers against their teams and profit when those teams failed to cover the betting spread.
The broader scheme involved more than 39 players across more than 17 NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams, with participants fixing or attempting to fix more than 29 games, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Prosecutors attributed more than $1.1 million in losses at sportsbooks nationwide to the operation, which involved more than $3 million in fraudulent wagers.
The conspiracy operated from approximately September 2022 through February 2025, initially targeting games in the Chinese Basketball Association before expanding into NCAA competition during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
Winkler held a leadership role in the college basketball operation, recruiting players, coordinating their participation and arranging payments, according to court filings.
He and other organizers contacted athletes through social media, text messages, telephone calls and in-person meetings, offering payments generally ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 per game.
The conspirators targeted players whose legitimate name, image and likeness compensation opportunities were relatively limited, making the proposed payments more financially attractive.
They also concentrated on teams entering games as underdogs, seeking to influence the final scoring margin rather than necessarily determining which team won.
Once players agreed to underperform, Winkler and other participants arranged substantial wagers through multiple sportsbooks against the teams whose athletes had been bribed.
The arrangement allowed conspirators to profit when those teams failed to cover the point spread, even if the game itself remained competitive.
Winkler was indicted in January 2026. His guilty plea establishes his criminal responsibility for participating in the bribery and wire fraud conspiracy.
He is scheduled to be sentenced February 8 and faces a maximum possible prison term of 45 years, three years of supervised release and a monetary fine.
The maximum sentence represents the combined statutory exposure for the offenses, not a determination of the punishment he will receive.
The investigation was conducted by FBI Philadelphia with assistance from FBI New York and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Louis D. Lappen and Jerome M. Maiatico are prosecuting the case.
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