Nevin Shapiro, a former University of Miami booster who said last year that he provided extra benefits to more than 70 of the school's athletes from 2002-2010, claims in a series of emails to the Miami Herald that he has more to say on the subject.
Shapiro, currently serving a 20-year sentence for orchestrating a nearly $1 billion Ponzi scheme, told the Herald that "it's going to be severe and catastrophic." He offered no proof of what he claims to know beyond what he told Yahoo! Sports last year.
"My feelings are getting inflamed and I'm going to pop off pretty soon with regards to them and the NCAA. I'm coming for them both (the school and former players) and I'm going to be successful," Shapiro wrote in what the Herald described as "numerous emails over the past few months."
Last August, Shapiro told Yahoo! that he had provided extra benefits, including meals, clothes, prostitutes and trips to his house, to 72 Miami athletes. He showed financial documents to back up his claims. Eight Miami players served suspensions after the allegations were announced, and the NCAA continues to investigate the Hurricanes' athletic department. The school self-imposed a bowl ban last season.
Shapiro told the Herald in one of his emails that "the public is going to hate me worse in the next coming months." He added that "UM is getting the death penalty or damn close to it."
The Herald, citing Miami officials, said the school believes the NCAA will dismiss any claims Shapiro makes that cannot be backed up. The paper also said a top official at the school said that Miami could discredit Shapiro if he is put under oath.
The Herald reported that the NCAA hasn't contacted a number of players Shapiro implicated, and that players who have been contacted denied wrongdoing.
Shapiro pled guilty in September 2010 to one count of securities fraud and one count of money laundering. Federal prison officials told the Herald that Shapiro must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence, which means he'll be in jail for at least 17 years.
