Written by :
Published on :
A former vice chair of the Corpus Christi Texas Planning Commission pleaded guilty in a Kentucky court to threatening University of Louisville football coach Jeff Brohm following the Cardinals' Nov. 8 overtime loss to Cal.
Brian Mandel pleaded guilty to one count of terroristic threatening for the threatening text message sent. Mandell had previously resigned from his position as vice chair of the Planning Commission and initially promised to “resolve the situation with the authorities" upon traveling to Louisville.
Jefferson Circuit Judge Tracy Davis read a victim impact statement from University of Louisville quarterback Miller Moss, who also received the threatening text message.
Davis read that threatening text aloud in the court.
“I’m going to spend the rest of my life making yours miserable. You cost me $80,000 last night You can either pay me or suffer the consequences. You your girlfriend and your parents. They will all suffer," the message read.
Mandell sent threatening text messages to Brohm as fans were still exiting L&N Stadium on Nov. 8 after a 29-26 loss. Mandel later sent the same text message to Moss. It was later confirmed that on both Nov. 8 and Nov. 9, Mandel made "terroristic threats" against Brohm's wife, his children and his brother Brian, who is also the team's quarterbacks coach.
The first threatening message came in at around 11 p.m. on Nov. 8, just 15 minutes after the game ended, according to the Louisville Courier Journal.
"I am going to find and kill you and your entire (expletive) family you piece of (expletive) ..."
As part of the plea deal, Mandell (pictured below right) agreed to one count of terroristic threating in the second degree, a felony, for a text message he sent to Brohm that led to “immediate security actions and round-the-clock security,” per court records.
Six other counts, including five terroristic threatening charges and one criminal attempt of theft by extortion over $10,000, were dismissed.
Mandell faced up to four years in prison Attorneys presented Davis with a pretrial diversion order that would instead have Mandel serve a two year unsupervised sentence during which he must not gamble at all, including friendly bets with friends. He was also ordered to make a payment of just over $1000 in partial restitution to cover the security services that came as a result of the threat.
Davis continued to read Moss’ impact statement aloud to the court:
"While the actions Brian Mandel took were not unheard of (making an uninformed wager on a series of college football games, and lashing out after the fact at everyone except himself) the lengths he went to in order to exact 'revenge' for his ignorant choices represents something far worse.”
In explaining the deal to the judge, Scott Drabenstadt, an assistant commonwealth attorney, told Davis: “We don’t downplay that for three days in November, in the lives of multiple people, there was a lot of fear, terror and mobilization of resources because it was unknown. It was unknown who this threat person was. … While everything he did was criminal and the effects on the individuals, there was not that long-term threat. Because of that, that’s this amendment.”
Charges against Mandell are expected to be expunged provided he follows the court order not to gamble. He must also seek counseling and report back to the commonwealth attorney’s office every six months for those two years.
The plea agreement comes just days after Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet appeared on a popular podcast claiming he was harassed in church over a losing prop wager. The churchgoer even used expletives when engaging with VanVleet.
That interview took place ahead of the weekend's NBA All Star Game on the Club 520 podcast:
Club 520: “Has any fans got on your nerves about you messing up their parlays? Man, they hit your DMs?”
VanVleet: “The internet don’t bother me, it’s the ‘in person’ one [fan interaction] you’ve got to be careful for. I had somebody run down on me in church.”
Club 520: “Wow. In the Lord’s House!”
VanVleet: “‘N***a, you f***ed up my parlay.’ In church! I said, ‘Damn.’ $3,000. It was some youngin’. I couldn’t believe it. It’s real out here.”
Alejandro Botticelli, Gambling911.com
