MEN’S BASKETBALL: VU’s Miles suspended for cell scam--The Post-Tribune
July 14, 2006
By Tom Wyatt / Post-Tribune staff writer
VALPARAISO — The way Valparaiso police figure it, Jimmie Miles simply got mixed up with the wrong people.
Nevertheless, the senior guard for the Valparaiso University men’s basketball team has been charged with misdemeanor theft for his role in a cell phone scam.
Miles was formally arrested Tuesday after a police investigation revealed him to be a delivery person in a scam masterminded by Jason Smith of Chicago Heights, Ill.
Miles, 22, of Country Club Hills, Ill., has been suspended indefinitely from the Crusaders and will meet with coach Homer Drew when Drew returns from a recruiting trip.
“I’ve been really proud of Jimmie for being helpful to police and working very closely with them in the investigation and trying to correct this,” Drew said.
Valparaiso police Detective Lt. Tom Horn said a warrant has been issued for Smith’s arrest.
Smith, Horn said, headed up a scam in which Sprint Nextel customers’ account numbers were obtained, allowing suspects to fraudulently order batches of cell phones and have them sent to various locations.
Those cell phones, high-end types and camera phones, then are sold on the street for about half the price of what they’re sold for in stores, Horn said. Users can remove their SIM cards from their existing phones and plug them into the new, stolen phones.
In May, Horn was acting on a tip and waiting outside the Best Western hotel on U.S. 30 for a suspect to come and pick up a package of cell phones. That suspect turned out to be Miles.
Horn stopped and questioned Miles, who admitted he was there to pick up the package, Horn said.
Horn said Miles had picked a package of cell phones on one other occasion and delivered it to Smith in Chicago Heights. Horn said he didn’t believe Miles had been paid for the work, but was supposedly promised gas money, in the range of $100.
“He was very cooperative,” Horn said of Miles. “He was able to assist me in making identification of Smith and figuring how this thing worked. He had what you would call a low-key role in the scam.”
Drew wouldn’t take a guess at whether Miles would be with the team once the season starts.
The 6-foot-2 Miles played in 19 games last season, starting 11. He was hampered by injury and illness, averaging 4.9 points.
“We’ve really enjoyed working with him both on the floor and off the floor,” Drew said of Miles.
Contact Tom Wyatt at 477-6017 or twyatt@post-trib.com
Allegations against Miles leaves VU guarded--The NWI Times
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