Nevin Karey Shapiro (born April 13, 1969) is a convicted felon who currently is imprisoned for orchestrating a $930 million

Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are comin ...

. According to interviews, he engaged in rampant violations of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

rules over eight years as a booster for

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

athletes. Shapiro allegedly provided football players cash, goods, prostitutes, and assorted favors.

Early life

Shapiro was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

to a Jewish family and moved with his family to

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and artificial island, man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the ...

at an early age. He graduated in 1986 from

Miami Beach Senior High School Miami Beach Senior High School (Beach High, MBSH) is a secondary school located at 2231 Prairie Avenue Miami Beach, Florida, across from the Miami Beach Convention Center and Botanical Garden. It is located at the corner of Prairie Avenue and ...

. Shapiro, who is 5 feet, 5 inches tall, was a member of the school's basketball and wrestling teams.

Ponzi scheme

Federal criminal allegations

Shapiro started Capitol Investments USA, which he claimed bought wholesale groceries and shipped them to more expensive markets (although he said that he never actually sold the groceries). Shapiro's Ponzi scheme was based on attracting investors to Capitol Investments. He promised investors they would make 10 to 26 percent commissions every month. In 2003, his business grew very quickly through connections with Sherwin Jarol in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Craig Currie in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and Sydney "Jack" Williams, who had real estate in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

and

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. According to

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

Special Agent Gregory Yankow in a Federal Criminal Complaint dated April 20, 2010 (Case No. 10-8082), Shapiro "directed others to create and show to the investors documents fraudulently touting Capitol's profitability. Those documents included: financial statements; profit and loss figures fraudulently representing that Capitol's wholesale grocery business was generating tens of millions of dollars in annual sales; personal and business tax returns for Shapiro and Capitol also fraudulently reflecting those sales; and numerous invoices fraudulently reflecting transactions between Capitol and other companies in the wholesale grocery business." According to the criminal complaint, Shapiro incurred "millions of dollars in debts resulting from illegal gambling on sporting events; more than $400,000 for floor seats to the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

professional basketball team; approximately $26,000 monthly for mortgage payments on his residence in Miami Beach, which was recently appraised at approximately $5.3 million; approximately $7,250 monthly for payments on a $1.5 million Riviera yacht; approximately $4,700 monthly for the lease of a

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

automobile;" and an undisclosed amount "for a pair of diamond-studded handcuffs, which he gifted to a prominent professional athlete." The FBI reported that he had diverted $35 million for his personal use from 2005 to 2009. Shapiro allegedly rented his yacht to

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

players

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

Dwyane Wade Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. (; born January 17, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Wade spent the majority of his 16-year career playing for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and won three NBA champi ...

, and

Kevin Garnett Kevin Maurice Garnett ( ; born May 19, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player who played for 21 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed KG by his initials, and the "Big Ticket" for his emphatic dunki ...

and pledged $150,000 to the

to have his name placed on the student lounge. The scheme fell apart in November 2009 during the

late-2000s recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...

when Chicago real estate investor Sherwin Jarol sued to force him into involuntary bankruptcy after Shapiro had stopped making payments to his investors. More than 60 investors (largely from Naples, Indianapolis, and Chicago), including

Barry Alvarez Barry Lee Alvarez (born December 30, 1946) is a former American football coach and athletic director at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He served as the head football coach at Wisconsin for 16 seasons, from 1990 to 2005, compiling a caree ...

, filed claims (Alvarez had $600,000 in the scheme).

Federal criminal charges

On April 21, 2010, he was charged in New Jersey with

securities fraud Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a deceptive practice in the stock or commodities markets that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in los ...

and

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

Federal plea and sentencing

On September 15, 2010, he pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.

Home transfer

Shapiro was transferred from federal prison to home confinement on June 11, 2020, where he will continue to serve out the remainder of his 20-year sentence under monitoring by the

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...

(BOP). The transfer comes on the heels of recent federal prison directives to move some at-risk inmates to home confinement in the face of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

outbreaks. The eligibility of Shapiro, who is 51, was aided by having served over 50 percent of his sentence, while also demonstrating hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and

hypertension Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...

, both of which put him at a higher risk of life-threatening complication if he were to contract coronavirus. Shapiro was transferred to the home of a family member. He will be monitored electronically by the BOP and subject to a range of BOP guidelines, which include a ban on the consumption of alcohol, random drug testing, and a monitored walking radius near the residence and other criteria. He will also be required to wear an ankle monitor at all times. He will be eligible to hold a job, although any work would require approval through the BOP and his earnings will be garnished to repay remaining restitution to his victims. The civil case in Miami is

Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

v. Shapiro, 10-cv-21281.

University of Miami scandal

In August 2010, Shapiro told the ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...

'' that he was writing a book ''The Real U: 2001 to 2010 Inside the Eye of the Hurricane'' in which he promised to tell how the

had violated

rules affecting more than 100 players. "Once the players turned pro, they turned their back on me. It made me feel like a used friend," he said. Shapiro was reported to have spent $2 million from 2002 to 2010 boosting University of Miami sports, primarily football, but also included contact with the basketball team under

Frank Haith Frank James Haith Jr. (born November 3, 1965) is an American men's basketball coach, currently serving as an assistant coach for the University of Memphis. He previously served as head coach of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane from 2014 to 2022, and pr ...

. In 2002, he paid $1.5 million for a 30 percent stake in a sports management company called Axcess Sports, started by

Michael Huyghue Michael L. Huyghue (born September 21, 1961; pronounced "hewg") is a sports lawyer and businessman and former commissioner of the United Football League, having served in that capacity since the league's founding in 2007. He was previously a mem ...

. The agency signed several

Miami Hurricanes football The Miami Hurricanes football team represents the University of Miami in college football. The Hurricanes compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Coastal Division of the Atlanti ...

players, including

Vince Wilfork Vincent Lamar Wilfork (born November 4, 1981) is a former American football nose tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes ...

. On August 16, 2011, in a jailhouse interview with

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...

sports writer Charles Robinson conducted over 100 hours, Shapiro made good on his promise for revelations, exposing a lack of

-mandated institutional oversight at the university that apparently allowed his illegal and unethical behavior to continue unimpeded for years. To date, 72 University of Miami football players are alleged by Shapiro to have received impermissible benefits from him between 2002 and 2010, including Wilfork, Jon Beason,

Antrel Rolle Antrel Rocelious Rolle (born December 16, 1982) is a former American football defensive back of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Miami, where he was recognized as a unanimous All-American, an ...

Devin Hester Devin Devorris Hester Sr. (born November 4, 1982) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL). He is widely regarded as the greatest return specialist i ...

Willis McGahee Willis Andrew McGahee III (born October 21, 1981) is a former American football running back. He played college football at Miami, where he was recognized as a consensus All-American, and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of t ...

, and the late

Sean Taylor Sean Michael Maurice Taylor (April 1, 1983 – November 27, 2007) was an American football safety for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected fifth overall in the 2004 NFL Draft by the Redskins, where h ...

. In response to the allegations, the

imposed significant penalties on itself, including the suspension of eight football players, and removed itself from post-season bowl contention for one year. On October 22, 2013, after a two-and-a-half year of investigation, the NCAA announced that the University of Miami football team would be docked three scholarships in each of the next three seasons, a three-year probation, recruiting restrictions, a five-game suspension for the

Miami Hurricanes men's basketball The Miami Hurricanes men's basketball team is the college basketball team of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The team competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The University of Miami men's basketball team was formed i ...

coach, and a two-year show-cause order on a total of three former assistant football and basketball coaches. Considering such a long investigation yielded very little incriminating evidence, it was widely viewed that the NCAA investigation and the media attention to the case did not match the relatively minor infractions that were proven to be committed. Before the NCAA penalties were announced, it was revealed that NCAA enforcement staff paid Shapiro's lawyer $25,000 to call in University of Miami personnel during an unassociated legal deposition for Shapiro's bankruptcy, and ask a specific list of questions related to the university's scandal. Shapiro's attorney used her subpoena power in the bankruptcy case to question two witnesses who were crucial to the NCAA's case. The NCAA had no subpoena power, and neither witness had any obligation to talk to the association. The backlash from the revelations about the NCAA's activities, coupled with the university's unprecedented self-imposed sanctions, helped the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

escape additional harsh NCAA penalties.Andrea Adelson, ESPN.com October 22, 2013 Photos in the Yahoo article showed Shapiro with

Kellen Winslow Jr. Kellen Boswell Winslow II (born July 21, 1983) is an American former professional football player and a convicted sex offender. He was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL) and played college football at the University of Miami, ...

and Joe Kolchinsky in the VIP section of the Opium Garden Nightclub in 2005, with Haith, Joe Kolchinsky and University of Miami President

Donna Shalala Donna Edna Shalala ( ; born February 14, 1941) is an American politician and academic who served in the Carter and Clinton administrations, as well as in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021. Shalala is a recipient of the Presid ...

in 2008 as he donated $50,000 to the basketball program as well as $3 million in other donations to undisclosed recipients, and with Vince Wilfork in 2002.