Rutgers Football Players Charged With Theft Apply For PTI: Report

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — The eight players who were kicked off the Rutgers football team last year and then indicted for allegedly taking part in a credit card ring using their Rutgers Express debit-card accounts will enter New Jersey's pre-trial intervention program, NJ Advance Media reported Thursday.

Middlesex County prosecutors will likely agree to allow all eight players to enter the program, which was created to allow first-time criminal offenders to avoid jail time.

The eight Rutgers football players who were indicted are Malik Vaccaro-Dixon, Kai "K.J.'' Gray, Edwin Lopez, Kwabena "Kobe" Marfo, Syhiem Simmons, Christian "C.J.'' Onyechi, Naijee Jones and linebacker Brendan DeVera.

Gray and DeVera, pictured above, left and right, were named as the alleged ringleaders and they were both dismissed from the team. The other six were suspended from the Scarlet Knights; Dixon, Jones, Onyechi and Marfo are still Rutgers students and there is a chance they could play again in the 2019 season.

DeVera was originally charged as one of the organizers of the credit card fraud scheme, but the most serious charge against him — promoting organized street crime in the second degree — was dropped. Gray, however, is still facing a second-degree charge of promoting organized street crime, which carries a maximum of 10 years in jail if he is found guilty.

The alleged thefts occurred this past spring, prosecutors say. The Middlesex County prosecutor's office says the players used the dark web to obtain credit card numbers and then transferred money to their Rutgers Express debit-card accounts, NJ.com reported. The transfers were done in small amounts, ranging from $200 to $800 at a time, prosecutors said, according to reports.

In total, $11,450 was stolen from various victims.

They were indicted Dec. 5, 2018 by a grand jury in Middlesex County.

Cedric Ashley, Gray’s attorney, told NJ.com the Middlesex County prosector’s office “realized that college kids make mistakes.’’

“To the extent to where there’s money that is owed because of some lack of judgment with RU Express Cards, everybody is going to work to get that money back to Rutgers,’’ Ashley said. “(Admission into) PTI means that these kids are not as bad as people might’ve perceived them. And the prosecutor’s (office) realized that every kid deserves a second chance and that’s what they’re getting.''

Past Patch reporting on the 2018 Rutgers football credit card fraud scandal:

8 Rutgers Football Players Indicted For Credit Card Fraud

Several Rutgers Players Face Fake Credit Card Probe: Report
Two Players Kicked Off Rutgers Football Team

Photos from Rutgers University: K.J. Gray, at left, and Brendan DeVera at right.