N.J. Prosecutor: Allegations of Point-Shaving Lack Evidence

A prosecutor said Monday he found insufficient evidence to warrant New Jersey criminal charges in the alleged North Carolina State point-shaving scheme involving former Wolfpack player Charles Shackleford and a Denville businessman.

Morris County prosecutor Lee S. Trumbull said his office received details earlier in the day of an investigation by Denville police into East Orange contractor Robert Kramer.

ABC News said Kramer allegedly paid Shackleford to shave points during the 1987-88 college basketball season. Denville police chief Howard Shaw said his department got involved based on an ABC News reporter’s tip.

Shackleford, now a forward for the New Jersey Nets, has acknowledged accepting nearly $65,000 while a student, in violation of NCAA rules, but has denied any role in alleged point-shaving.

But Trumbull said a review of the Denville police investigation found it lacking in “any evidence that would warrant criminal prosecution in this jurisdiction.” Denville is located in Morris County, where the prosecutor would be responsible for pursuing a criminal case in the state’s Superior Court system.

Matthew Boylan, a Roseland attorney representing Shackleford, said the prosecutor’s decision “is consistent with what we’ve been saying all along.”

North Carolina authorities are still investigating whether Shackleford, and possibly other Wolfpack players, shaved points.

Kramer has told The Charlotte Observer he loaned Shackleford about $6,000 while Shackleford played for the Wolfpack. But Kramer said no strings were attached to the loans and called allegations of point-shaving “ludicrous.”

Boylan said he had not spoken with prosecutors or police about the Denville investigation.

Boylan is representing Shackleford on an unrelated marijuana possession charge scheduled to be heard Thursday in municipal court in Orange.