5 arrested in Florida high school football recruiting scheme: report
Five arrests were made in Florida on Wednesday and more are coming relating to falsifying documents in order to allow high school football players to skirt boundary rules to choose which school to attend and compete for.
TCPalm in Port St. Lucie, Florida reported five parents were arrested for charges related to falsifying official documents. Arrest warrants have been filed for three more parents.
An anonymous complaint filed to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement alleging improprieties in high school recruiting triggered an investigation into Robert Vega, a 48-year-old veteran police sergeant, and his brother William Vega, a 50-year-old former Assistant Police Chief in Port St. Lucie.
The siblings are alleged to have used former and current Port St. Lucie police officers' addresses to claim fraudulently that students lived within the Martin County School District.
The FDLE said the defendants "also changed their driver's licenses to reflect these fraudulent addresses," TCPalm reported.
Both were volunteer coaches at Martin County High School in Stuart, Florida and all five parents arrested had sons on the school's football during the 2022 season that have either transferred or graduated in the year since, TCPalm reports.
Florida State Attorney Tom Bakkedahl told TCPalm will know within 21 days of the arrests whether the defendants will be charged in a single case.
The charges include unlawful acts in relation to a driver's license, making false affidavit perjury, grand theft and perjury by false written declaration.
William Vega submitted his retirement from the police department in May and Robert Vega is reportedly on unpaid administrative leave.
Read the entire TCPalm investigative report here.
This is a developing story.
