UA men’s track coach Brauman indicted by federal grand jury
BY NATE ALLEN Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Friday, December 16, 2005
University of Arkansas men’s track sprints coach Lance Brauman, the former head men’s and women’s track coach at Barton County (Kan.) Community College, is one of three either currently or in the past associated with the Kansas junior college to be indicted last Wednesday night by a federal grand jury.
Barton County Community College athletic director Neil Elliott, former BCCC basketball coach Ryan Cross and Brauman were indicted Wednesday night, U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren announced, and are scheduled to appear Jan. 4 in U.S. District Court in Wichita, Kan.
According to a report in Thursday’s Wichita Eagle-Beacon, Brauman, 35, and BCCC’s head track coach from 1997-2003, “is charged with one count of embezzlement from student assistance programs, one count of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and one count of making a false material declaration to a grand jury on Sept. 21.”
The Eagle-Beacon reports, “the indictment alleges Brauman prepared and aided and abetted the preparation of false work study time sheets, representing the payment of approximately $16,809 in federal funds and $109,477 in campus employment funds to student athletes not entitled to the funds. It also alleges he testified the student-athletes had actually performed the work when he knew that was not true. If convicted, Brauman faces a maximum combined sentence of 20 years in federal prison without parole.”
Brauman, the Razorbacks’ sprints coach since 2003, and Arkansas head men’s track coach John McDonnell were both out of town Thursday, but McDonnell did issue a statement through Razorback track sports information director Stephanie Wetzel that Brauman remains on his Razorback staff. “I’m aware of the legal matter concerning Barton County Community College,” McDonnell said in the statement, “and several of its current and former employees including Lance Brauman. The case doesn’t involve the University of Arkansas. Coach Brauman will continue to serve in his role as an assistant coach with our program as every individual is entitled to the presumption of innocence. Due to the pending nature of this legal matter, we will have no further comment at this time.”
Elliott, according to the Wichita Eagle-Beacon, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit theft of federal funds and embezzlement from student assistance programs, one count of theft of federal funds and one count of embezzlement from student assistance programs.
Cross, currently an assistant basketball coach at Louisiana Tech, was Barton’s head basketball coach in 1998-99.
According to the Eagle-Beacon, "Cross is charged with two counts of wire fraud in 2002. The indictment alleges he sent course materials for a college course to be used to fraudulently obtain college credit for Ricky Clemons, who went on to play at Missouri.
" It also alleges Cross sent a fax of Kareem Johnson’s college transcript to fraudulently obtain college credit for Johnson, who then played at Cincinnati. "
Two former BCCC basketball coaches, Ryan Wolf and Dave Campbell, await sentencing after reaching plea bargain agreements. Former BCCC basketball assistant Matt Skillman, the Eagle-Beacon reports, was sentenced to probation and ordered to repay the college $26,000 for academic fraud.
The Eagle-Beacon reported current BCCC track coach Lyles Lashley awaits trial after an October indictment on embezzlement and theft charges and that former BCCC basketball assistant coach Shane Hawkins in October was charged with making a false statement to a federal grand jury.
Brauman was voted into the National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2004 after coaching BCCC’s men’s and women’s teams to 18 NJCAA championships in indoor and outdoor track.
At Arkansas, Brauman has assisted on five NCAA championship teams in indoor and outdoor track. Brauman has coached 30 Razorback All-Americans including three-time individual NCAA 200-meter champion Wallace Spearmon, one-time individual NCAA 100-meter champion Tyson Gay and last spring’s NCAA Outdoor 4x100 champion relay team of Michael Grant, Gay, Spearmon and Omar Brown.
… You arent far off…