Iowa State QB Hunter Dekkers among 5 ISU, Iowa athletes to plead guilty to underage gambling

Five athletes from the University of Iowa and Iowa State University have pleaded guilty to underage gambling, a simple misdemeanor, as part of a sprawling sports-betting investigation that has resulted in charges against more than a dozen student-athletes at the two schools.

Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers and linemen Dodge Sauser and Jacob Remsburg, along with former University of Iowa kicker Aaron Blom and baseball player Gehrig Christensen, all entered guilty pleas to underage gambling Wednesday.

All five were initially charged with tampering with records as part of a gambling scheme, an aggravated misdemeanor that could have carried a two-year prison sentence if found guilty. Instead, the tampering charges were dismissed and each of the five will pay a scheduled fine for underage gambling, which is $645 in Iowa.

There will be no additional criminal punishments for any of the five charged, according to the terms of their guilty pleas.

In all, the ongoing investigation into the sports-betting scandal has implicated more than three dozen current and former Iowa State University and University of Iowa athletes who face suspension from their teams or criminal charges or both.

Mark Weinhardt, a lawyer for the three members of the Iowa State football team who pleaded guilty, released a statement Wednesday.

"The original records tampering charge against these young men never fit this case, either legally or factually. Hunter, Jake and Dodge are not and never were guilty of that charge. The charge has nothing to do with gambling," Weinhardt wrote. "Other than the fact that Hunter, Jake and Dodge placed some bets before they turned 21, nothing about those bets is a crime under Iowa law."

Story County Attorney Timothy Meals responded that he could not comment on an ongoing investigation.

The allegations in the Hunter Dekkers gambling case

In Dekkers' guilty plea, the quarterback admitted to using his mother's name to wager more than $2,700 on more than 250 bets, including a wager on the Iowa State football team while he was on the team. It was unclear whether the terms of the plea meant Dekkers admitted to placing a singular bet on Iowa State.

He was accused of placing 26 bets on the Cyclones in the complaint filed in Story County last month, including the 2021 football game against Oklahoma State when he was a sophomore backup quarterback but didn't play.

Under NCAA rules, athletes are permanently ineligible if found guilty of placing wagers on sporting events that involve their school.

The complaint alleges the DraftKings account controlled by Dekkers completed approximately 366 mobile/online sports wagers totaling “over $2,799.”  

Dekkers did not participate in Iowa State's fall preseason camp practices so he could "focus on his studies and on the defense of this criminal charge," according to a statement released by his attorneys in August.

The allegations in the Dodge Sauser gambling case

Sauser's plea included an admission that he wagered approximately $3,075, including a bet on an Iowa State football game in which he did not participate. Sauser has left the team.

The DraftKings account controlled by Sauser is alleged to have placed 12 wagers on Iowa State football games, including contests last year against Ohio, West Virginia, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. In total, Sauser wagered $3,075 on DraftKings, according to the complaint. 

Sauser is not noted as appearing in any Iowa State game during his career in the school’s official biography of him on its athletic department website. He redshirted in 2021 and did not appear in 2022, according to the Iowa State athletics page.

The allegations in the Jacob Remsburg gambling case

Remsburg admitted to wagering at least $1,108, including placing bets on other NCAA events, but not Iowa State football. No specifics were given about the nature of the other "NCAA-sanctioned events" Remsburg bet on.

Newly introduced NCAA gambling rules stipulate a loss of 50% of eligibility for a single season for betting on another school in the same sport that a student-athlete plays in.

Remsburg has been suspended six games by the NCAA, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told the Des Moines Register, part of the USA TODAY Network, on Sept. 1.

The allegations in the Aaron Blom gambling case

In Blom’s guilty plea, he admitted placing a $40 wager on a Jan. 28, 2021, men’s college basketball game between Texas Christian University and Kansas while he was under the legal gambling age. Kansas won the game, 59-51.

Blom was also accused of placing wagers on an estimated eight University of Iowa events, including the 2021 Cy-Hawk game, in which he did not participate.

Blom turned 21, Iowa's legal gambling age, in September 2022. He was the second-string kicker last year as a nonscholarship athlete.

Blom was accused of making 170 mobile wagers through a DraftKings account "controlled by Aaron Blom" from Jan. 28, 2021, to Feb. 22, 2022, in Johnson County, totaling more than $4,400. 

Blom saw limited action in 2022, missing a game-tying field goal as time expired in the matchup with Iowa State, giving ISU the 10-7 victory in Iowa City.

The allegations in the Gehrig Christensen gambling case

Christensen, 20, pleaded guilty to placing an underage sports wager “on or about” Nov. 7, 2022. He was accused of making wagers through Feb. 23, 2023, as a member of the Iowa baseball team. Most of his wagers, Christensen told investigators, were placed on NBA games.

His lawyers had previously argued Christensen placed bets as early as Aug. 7, 2022, saying the charges filed by the Department of Criminal Investigation were beyond the one-year statute of limitations for simple misdemeanors. Christensen agreed to drop that defense to reach a plea deal.

Christensen, a Des Moines-area native, was accused of operating a “scheme” with his mother, hiding his identity by placing wagers in his mother’s name and making it seem as if she was placing the bets. The DraftKings account under Christensen’s mother’s name placed more than 550 bets totaling more than $2,400, documents filed in Johnson County court alleged.

Court documents allege Christensen made wagers with his mother’s consent, and she allegedly helped set up the account. She said it was “a silly mistake” to register the account for her son’s use, according to court documents. Christensen's mother was not charged with a crime.

Christensen announced his retirement from baseball on June 8 on Instagram. He is not listed on the current Iowa baseball roster but still maintains an Iowa City address and attends the UI, according to court filings.

Brandon Hurley, Randy Peterson and Travis Hines contributed reporting.

Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached atrhansen@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.