Former Indiana University basketball player Todd C. Leary has been sentenced in Hamilton County, Indiana, after pleading guilty to felony fraud in a case involving a parent who paid him $48,900 for basketball training, plans for an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team and personal loans.
The parent first contacted Leary in January 2024 after hearing him discuss basketball training on the radio, according to Current Publishing’s review of the Carmel Police probable cause affidavit. What began as individual coaching expanded into payments for longer-term training, team expenses, practice space and other proposed basketball costs.
The parent told investigators that Leary provided nine individual training sessions over 13 months. The proposed AAU team was never formed, and police later contacted several organizations, facilities and coaches whose names had been connected to the arrangement.
Hamilton Superior Court 4 accepted Leary’s guilty plea to one Level 6 felony fraud count. The remaining nine fraud and theft counts were dismissed, and Judge J. Richard Campbell sentenced him Sept. 30.
The Arrangement Started With Basketball Training
The parent initially paid Leary $3,000 for basketball training for his son through the end of 2024, according to Current Publishing’s review of the affidavit.
After several sessions, Leary proposed a $5,000 package that he described as a lifetime training arrangement. The parent told investigators that Leary said he would train the boy through high school and help prepare him for college basketball.
The parent paid the $5,000 in two installments. Investigators were later told that only nine individual sessions took place during the 13 months covered by the broader relationship.
Payments Expanded to an AAU Team, Practice Space and League Costs
According to Current Publishing’s account of the affidavit, Leary allegedly proposed creating an AAU team in August 2024 rather than placing the boy with an existing program. He told the parent he had reached an arrangement with Indiana Elite and requested $5,000 to establish the team.
Investigators later contacted Criss Beyers of Indiana Elite, who said Leary had not established an AAU team with the organization.
The parent subsequently paid another $5,000 for coaching expenses and $4,000 after Leary allegedly said he had secured practice space at H&H Fieldhouse in Fishers. When investigators contacted the facility, management said Leary had discussed a possible investment but had not arranged to lease space for the team.
Leary also allegedly requested $6,000 to create the team through the Indiana Basketball League. Carmel police later contacted league management and were told the organization had not received money from him.
Police Checked Claims Involving Coaches and Purdue Basketball
Current reported that Leary allegedly told the parent that Adam Howard, then associated with Indiana basketball, had agreed to help coach the AAU team. The parent paid $3,000 for the proposed arrangement. Howard later told investigators he had not agreed to coach for Leary.
In another transaction, Leary requested $5,000 as a personal loan and said Purdue men’s basketball coach Matt Painter had hired him to train Purdue players. Leary allegedly told the parent he expected to receive $15,000 from Purdue and would use that money to repay the loan.
Purdue officials told Carmel police that Painter had not hired Leary to train players.
Investigators also reviewed other proposed basketball expenses, including equipment and later attempts to organize a team through another AAU program. The parent continued making payments while the proposed team failed to materialize.
The Parent Went to Police After Repayment Promises Failed
By March 2025, Leary told the parent that the AAU team would not happen and said he would return the money, according to the affidavit reporting.
The promised repayment did not arrive, and the parent eventually stopped receiving responses to calls and messages. He contacted Carmel Police on May 8.
Investigators calculated that the parent had paid Leary $48,900 between January 2024 and February 2025. Current’s affidavit reporting describes $5,000 and $4,800 payments as loans and another $1,500 in airline tickets purchased on the condition that Leary would repay the cost. Those three amounts total $11,300. A police review of Leary’s bank account found that most of the checks from the parent had been cashed.
Court Records Confirm the Guilty Plea and Sentence
The Sept. 30 sentencing order in case 29D04-2509-F6-008278 says the court accepted Leary’s guilty plea to Count 1, fraud as a Level 6 felony, and entered a judgment of conviction.
The court imposed a 910-day sentence in the Indiana Department of Correction, with six days executed and 904 days suspended. The executed time was to be served in the Hamilton County Jail. Leary received six days of jail credit for three days already served in October 2025.
The order also placed Leary on probation for 365 days and required $5,000 in restitution. The court granted the state’s motion to dismiss the remaining charges, released the bonds and vacated future court dates.
The earlier plea agreement called for the same sentence structure, one year of probation and $5,000 restitution, with the state agreeing to dismiss Counts 2 through 10.
Indiana’s Consumer Complaint Process Emphasizes Transaction Records
The Indiana Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division provides a consumer complaint process for disputes involving individuals or businesses.
The state’s consumer complaint materials ask consumers to explain how a transaction began, how payment was made and how much money was involved. The process also allows supporting material such as contracts, written agreements, advertisements, invoices, canceled checks and correspondence to be included.
Those records can document what services were promised, what payments were made and what communications followed when a paid service becomes disputed.
