Former Southern Miss basketball player charged in point-shaving scheme
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- Federal indictment charges 20 individuals, including ex-USM guard Arlando Arnold.
- Indictment alleges Facetime recruitment and coordinated underperformance in 2024 games.
- Authorities say fixers paid players tens of thousands to manipulate spreads and outcomes.
Former Southern Miss guard and Picayune native Arlando “Mo” Arnold is one of 20 individuals charged in a point-shaving scheme, according to a federal indictment unsealed Thursday from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Arnold has been charged with three counts of wire fraud, two counts of aiding and abetting, and a count each for bribery in sporting contests, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The scheme involved two fixers from Mississippi, including Marves Fairley, who the document describes as a “high-stakes” bettor.
Among those charged are two University of New Orleans athletes, Dae Dae Hunter and Jah Short, who admitted their roles in November.
“We were made aware this morning of federal charges brought against a former Southern Miss men’s basketball player as part of a larger, national sports betting investigation,” USM athletic director Jeremy McClain said in a publicly released statement. “This news is disappointing to everyone associated with Southern Miss athletics. Integrity of the game is important to anyone who loves college sports and the university stands ready to assist in making sure incidents like these are removed from the competitive space in intercollegiate athletics.”
The document states Arnold was recruited around Feb. 2024 along with at least two other unnamed players from the USM basketball team.
The three agreed via Facetime to underperform in a game against South Alabama at the Mitchell Center in Mobile on Feb. 28, 2024.
The Jaguars were 1.5-point first-half favorites and bettors placed wagers of at least $275,000 on South Alabama to cover that spread. The half ended in a tie, causing bettors to lose their bets. Arnold scored zero points in the first half and finished the game with two points in a season-low 20 minutes of action.
Arnold and the two unnamed Golden Eagles agreed to influence the upcoming game against Louisiana to make up for the losses. One agreed to sit out the game to further the scheme.
The Ragin’ Cajuns were five-point first-half favorites. Bettors placed wagers of at least $161,000 on the first-half spread and cashed them when Louisiana held a 16-point halftime lead.
Though they were not named, leading scorer Austin Crowley and Donovan Ivory were the only notable players to not participate in the game. It was the only game of the season Crowley missed. Ivory had not played since Feb. 10, 2024, after injuring his foot. Ivory had missed the previous five games.
Arnold was paid “tens of thousands of dollars” by Fairley for influencing the outcome of the Louisiana game, according to the document.
Arnold would help recruit Carlos Hart into the scheme and attempted to recruit three more USM players from the 2024-25 roster, according to the document.
Carlos Hart, who is one of the former players named in the indictment, is the brother of one of Arnold’s teammates at USM, Victor Hart. Victor Hart played in the Louisiana game where he scored three points on 1-for-5 shooting and posted a +/- of -19 in the first half, but improved notably in the second with 13 points, including a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line.
Carlos Hart was involved in fixing a game while playing for New Orleans and was paid $20,000 in cash at an unnamed casino in Biloxi, according to the documents.
The indictment comes as part of a sprawling case that began with bettors allegedly fixing games in the Chinese Basketball Association.
This story was originally published January 15, 2026 at 11:36 AM.
