NCAA: Issue Found in Miami probe Case

The NCAA has found what it calls "a very severe issue of improper conduct" committed by former members of its own enforcement program during the Miami investigation, and will not deliver the long-awaited notice of allegations against the Hurricanes until an external review is completed.

NCAA President Mark Emmert announced the findings Wednesday. The sports governing body said former enforcement staff members worked with the criminal defense attorney for former Miami booster and convicted Ponzi scheme architect Nevin Shapiro "to improperly obtain information ... through a bankruptcy proceeding that did not involve the NCAA."
"I am deeply disappointed and frustrated and even angry about these circumstances," said Emmert, who also described it as "a shocking affair."

The NCAA would not reveal the name of the attorney involved. Shapiro has been represented by Maria Elena Perez, a Miami graduate. Perez did not immediately return a request for comment from The Associated Press on Wednesday. A person in Perez's office told the AP that the attorney was working in New York and would forward a message left at her office.

One key person in the investigation has been former Miami equipment-room staffer Sean Allen, who was deposed by Perez as part of Shapiro's bankruptcy proceedings. If the NCAA found it could not use the information gleaned in that particular deposition, that would be a development figuring to favor the Hurricanes

Miami President Donna Shalala in a statement released through the university that she is "frustrated, disappointed and concerned" that the NCAA may have compromised the investigation.
"As we have done since the beginning, we will continue to work with the NCAA and now with their outside investigator hoping for a swift resolution of the investigation and our case," Shalala said.
Shalala's statement also said Miami first informed the NCAA of possible violations more than two years ago.A/P