DES MOINES, Iowa [WHO-TV] — Newly obtained emails between investigators within the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigations are shedding more light into why and how agents gathered evidence against student athletes at Iowa and Iowa State Universities in the online sports betting case. WHO-TV reports agents used geo-fence technology already employed by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to track all cell phone activity on both campuses. The evidence led to criminal charges and/or NCAA suspensions for 26 students; most pled guilty to underage gambling as part of plea deals. In March, the state dropped all charges against the five remaining defendants who pleaded not guilty; all 26 individuals are now suing the state.

According to internal emails provided by the Sandy Law Firm, Van Plumb and Matthew Boles who are representing the plaintiffs, DCI agents believed state code permitted them to use the software program Kibana, which is used by the Racing and Gaming Commission to track online sports betting, to cast a broad net to identify who was placing wagers.

An email exchange on September 15, 2022 from Story County prosecutor Tyler Grimm to DCI special agent Chris Swigart details Grimm explaining the need to obtain a warrant to obtain certain information they were after. No warrant was issued and the geo-fences were initiated. But communications also show agents knew their methods would be questioned.

Emails were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and provided to WHO 13 by the attorneys representing the 26 plaintiffs from the Sandy Law Firm, attorney Van Plumb, and attorney Matthew Boles. GeoComply has publicly stated the way DCI agents used their software, Kibana, in this case was inappropriate.

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission stated last August that the investigation did not reveal evidence of point shaving.