artesia investigation continues

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SoCalHoops High School News

Artesia: Chapter 2--Investigation
Panel Named--(Mar. 22, 2000)

This is one of those no news stories. The Long Beach Press Telegram, which first broke the story about the possible ineligibility of Jack Martinez and the allegedly false information contained on his and teammate Jon Steffanson's INS 1-20 forms, reported today that the investigaion panel appointed by the ABC School District has been selected. The panel will consist of Superior Court Judge (ret.) Norman Gordan, former CIF State and Southern Section commissioner Thomas Byrnes and Bellflower High School Principal Dennis Collier

ABC Superintendent Ron Barnes made the announcement at a regularly scheduled school board meeting yesterday. Late last week, the ABC District principals and athletic directors met, and demanded to be included in the investigation, and thus Collier was included.

According to the Press Telegram's story today, Barnes said he doesn't know how long the investigation will last and also said that there will be no further comment until it is finished. Even when completed, the only information that the school district will release is that which will not violate anyone's right of privacy. According to the PT, the ABC investigation is expected to focus on the question of Martinez' eligibility, and will involve looking at his transcripts from the Dominican Republic. The Press-Telegram alleges that they have access to a transcript which shows that Martinez' eligibility has already been exhausted.

The P-T also reported that Immigration and Naturalization Service is also investigating the status of the student visas held by Stefansson and Martinez, and that at present, the INS also won't comment on the scope of the investigation. But there's more trouble on the horizon, according to the P-T:

". . . Stefansson flew to Minneapolis Sunday where he was scheduled to catch a connecting flight home to Iceland. Jane Arellano, the assistant director of adjudication at the INS' Los Angeles branch, said Tuesday that the INS was not aware of Stefansson leaving the country, but declined further comment on the agency's inquiry. While Arellano would not address the Stefansson and Martinez cases specifically, she said the INS requires the subject of an inquiry to inform the agency of his whereabouts. "

"Not providing a forwarding address that's a violation of the law," said Arellano, speaking in general terms. "If someone left the United States, it doesn't conclude our inquiry or investigation. At some time in the future, they'd be confronted with the same concerns should they attempt to return to the United States. We won't let it just drop."

According to the P-T, Steffanson's father, Stefan Eggertson was also scheduled to take the flight back to Iceland with his son. He reportedly flew to Los Angeles from Iceland on March 10, the day after he was asked about his son's student visa in a telephone interview with the Press-Telegram. Eggertson was scheduled to fly to Minneapolis on a later flight than his son. While a return ticket to Los Angeles was purchased for Stefansson, it is not clear if he plans to return. The paper was not able to reach Steffanson in Iceland.

Finally, Gary Smuts, ABC's director of student services, said Tuesday that none of the four foreign players on the team Stefansson, Martinez, Amaury Fernandez or Franklin Matos, had withdrawn from school.

There was another "related" story last week about some vandalism at the home of a former Artesia player, Willie Alford. According to the P-T, Alford's father has been a "longtime critic" of the program. His son had been on the team this past summer but was either dropped or quit the team this past fall. According to the P-T, several windows were broken late at night last week at the Alford residence shortly after the Press-Telegram story was published.