artesia investigations launched March 15, 2000

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SoCalHoops High School News

ABC Unified & Feds Investigating Artesia;
CIF Penalty Possibilities--(March 15, 2000)

Sad to say, the news which rocked the high school basketball community in Southern California yesterday continues to reverberate. At a time when we all should be focusing on the best of the best, the CIF State Championships, and reflecting on what turned out to be a great high school basketball season, one of the most exciting in recent memory, instead we're being forced to examine what can only charitably be described as shameful allegations of filing false documents with the federal government and the use of potentially ineligible players. And for what? To win some high school basketball games. The news that two of Artesia High School's foreign players, Jack Martinez and Jon Steffanson may have submitted false information to the INS, or that someone may have done so on their behalf, and allegations that Martinez may also have submitted false information to gain high school eligibility, is something that really sickens us. And today the Long Beach Press Telegram reported today that two separate investigations have been launched into the matter (see below).

Likewise, in conversations we've had, and from the posts we've seen on the message board, there is not only speculation about what happened, but also what could happen to the players involved and to the Artesia program itself if the allegations prove to be accurate.

Yesterday we referred to several potential penalties which might be imposed if the charges are ultimately proven. We wrote that we thought the penalties could be severe against a particular player, but we also wrote that we didn't believe the CIF had a similar penalty to what is called in street vernacular, the "death penalty" in the NCAA, i.e., a complete suspension of all further athletic competition in a particular sport by a member institution.

We were wrong. The CIF not only has the power to suspend a program, the power in not just implict, it's expressly written into the State Bylaws, at Section 200(E), which is aptly entitled: " STUDENT ELIGIBILITY - PENALTY FOR PROVISION OF FALSE OR FRADULENT INFORMATION."

While many of the penalty provisions pertain to what can happen if a student provides false information (penalties include forfeiture of contests, suspension of athletic eligibility for a period of up to 12 months for the player involved, and other similar penalties), there's a particularly scary penalty which ought to have the parents, administrators, students, and any Artesia fans and alumni shaking in their boots right now. . . It's Bylaw 200 (E) (5):

5). SCHOOL PERSONNEL INVOLVEMENT

If any school personnel (including but not limited to a coach) knowingly participates in either providing false information or allowing others to provide false information in order to gain favorable eligibility status for a student, or team information to meet qualification standards for participation in any contest including playoffs or championships, sanctions may be imposed on the school including but not limited to: probationary status, prohibitions against playoff participation, forfeitures, revoking of CIF or section membership, etc.

Thus, in addition to simply forfeiting games (which appears to be mandatory under Bylaw 200(E) (3)--["(3). Any contests in which a student or students participated based on false information or fraudulent practices regarding eligibility status shall be forfeited according to the guidelines set in accord to the rules of the CIF section. "], the CIF clearly has the power to impose other sanctions, inhcluding "revoking of CIF or section membership."

Clearly, if the allegations made bear out, all of the games in which any ineligible player participated will be ruled forfeited, and that would mean all of the league contests, tournament games, exhibition games, and most pointedly, Artesia's Southern Section II-A title this year.

But likewise, if the allegations contained in the P-T yesterday and today ultimately prove to have merit (and we're not saying they do, but only "what if") then the issue might very turn into one of "institutional oversight" (or lack thereof) and anyone familiar with that term in the context of the NCAA, ought to be very worried right now about the potential consequences which might befall the Pioneers and any other CIF member institution which participated in "providing false information or allowing others to provide false information."

As noted, today's Long Beach Press Telegram carried a followup to the first article, and again, since the LB P-T doesn't archive it's stories, at least not in any readily accessible format, we'll do so below (again solely for the sake of discussion and "Fair Use". . . remember we don't have advertising here), but if you can buy the paper you should, or better yet, visit their website and support their advertisers. . . Of course, if this turns out to be one big mistake on the part of the P-T, some heads will undoubtedly roll, but given the comments of Martinez yesterday, we'd say this is more than just a case of smoke and mirrors, and even in his own words ("My career is over."), he will undoubtedly not return to play basketball at Artesia. Here's the second article from the Press-Telegram:

District, INS to investigate

By Billy Witz and Steve Irvine
Staff writers

The Immigration and Naturalization Service and the ABC Unified School District have launched separate investigations into Artesia High's nationally recognized boys basketball program in response to a special report in Tuesday's Press-Telegram.

That story reported that two foreign players, Jack Martinez of the Dominican Republic and Jon Stefansson of Iceland, hold student visas with false information on them and that Martinez is in his fifth year of high school.

Jane Arellano, the assistant director of adjudication for the INS' Los Angeles office, said her agency contacted the ABC district Tuesday to set up a meeting this week with Martinez and Stefansson, the first step in what she termed a preliminary inquiry.

"We're asking them to show us passports and immigration documents," Arellano said. "There might be something we're unaware of. This is a fair position for the INS to take. We just want to meet with them. Then after speaking with the guardians or parents and the students, we'll see if there's anything else we should do about it. If there's a problem, they'd have to appear before an immigration judge."

Martinez and Stefansson's student visas state they attend Mater Dei High, a private school in Santa Ana. But Mater Dei Principal Patrick Murphy said that neither student has ever attended the school and the person who signed the visa application on Mater Dei's behalf is not an employee of the school and is not registered with the INS as someone who is authorized to sign the forms, known as I-20s.

Martinez said he listed Mater Dei on his I-20 because he could not obtain a student visa to attend Artesia, which, like most public schools, does not process I-20 forms. Stefansson could not be reached for comment, but his father, Stefan Eggertsson said in a telephone interview from Iceland that he thought all of the information on his son's I-20 was correct.

Meanwhile Tuesday, ABC's director of school services, Gary Smuts, said that after consulting with the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section office, his district will assemble a team of two to three people from outside the district to investigate questions raised in the Press-Telegram story.

Smuts said the district has assembled a preliminary list of candidates, whom he declined to identify. He added that the team would likely include one person with a background in education and/or athletics and another with a law enforcement background.

Smuts said he hopes to have the investigators in place by the end of the week and said they would be given unrestricted access to district records and personnel, though he emphasized that the district wants to respect students' rights to confidentiality.

"We want somebody from inside and outside (the field of education)," Smuts said. "This gives everybody the point of view that we're taking this seriously and that it's an unbiased look at this whole situation." Smuts said the scope of the investigation would not necessarily be limited to what was reported in the Press-Telegram.

"If there's a new legitimate area of inquiry, we certainly want to include that in the scope of the investigation," Smuts said. "Our inclination is to have a more open investigation rather than a narrow one. We don't want to predetermine anything."

CIF-SS Commissioner Jim Staunton said he is content to let the ABC School District investigate the matter before he considers taking any possible action.

In 1998, the Narbonne High girls basketball team was stripped of its state Division I and L.A. City Section 4-A championships after it was found to have used ineligible players.

According to a school transcript from the Dominican Republic, Martinez, who led Artesia to the CIF-SS II-A title this season, started the ninth grade in 1995-96, which means that this is his 10th semester of high school. CIF rules state that a student has eight semesters in which to complete his athletic eligibility once he enters the ninth grade of any school. Martinez disputes that transcript.

"We're trying to determine the veracity of what's been said in the paper and if there's a need for the CIF to do anything," said Staunton. "The CIF is disappointed that the Press-Telegram did not let us know that (it) was conducting an investigation and work with us."

CIF-SS officials told the Press-Telegram last week they wouldn't discuss specific athletes or schools with the newspaper.

Suburban League principals and athletic directors met Tuesday morning in a regularly scheduled, bi-monthly meeting. Artesia Principal Yvonne Contreras and boys athletic director Stan Brown did not attend and nobody from the school represented them. A phone call to Contreras seeking comment was referred to Smuts by her secretary.

Bellflower Principal Dennis Collier, the Suburban League president, said that based on the Press-Telegram story a meeting of league principals was scheduled for Friday morning to pursue information from Artesia High officials regarding the school's boys basketball program.

Tuesday's developments were of interest to the local high school basketball coaching community.

"If these allegations are what they say they are, it gives high school sports especially basketball a black eye," said Mayfair coach David Breig, whose team has finished second to Artesia in the Suburban League the past two seasons. "We have to keep in mind this is only high school basketball."

Said Matt Ruiz, the coach and athletic director at neighboring Lakewood High: "If all of this proves to be correct, it's kind of sad to think that winning is that important."

What will ultimately be the outcome of the investigation? We have no idea. That's why the CIF, Artesia and the INS are conducting investigations. Will there be consequences if the allegations ultimately are proven to have merit? Absolutely. What will be the penalties? Again, we have no idea, but it appears that there is a wide degree of latitude given to the State CIF office, from merely imposing probation on the school to outright expulsion from membership in the CIF.