Former A-League footballers Clayton Lewis and Kearyn Baccus have been sentenced to a two-year conditional release order for their involvement in a betting scam during a match two years ago.
Both players were paid $10,000 each to intentionally get themselves yellow cards while playing for Macarthur FC against Sydney FC on December 9, 2023, to influence overseas bets on the game.
The pair pleaded guilty to one charge each of engaging in conduct that corrupts betting outcome.
Lewis got a yellow card after pushing a Sydney FC player to the ground and Baccus got one for tackling another player from behind.
Police allege Lewis and Baccus were recruited for the scam by their team captain, Ulises Alejandro Dávila, who allegedly had a Colombian-based contact known as “J Col” orchestrating the wagering.
Mr Dávila has not entered a plea to the charges against him.
Player sacked by A-League club
According to court documents, their yellow cards caused $167,387 in losses to the betting market.
Lewis and Mr Dávila were sacked by Macarthur FC and Baccus’s contract ended in June last year.
In sentencing, Magistrate Michael Blair told Downing Centre Local Court the pair’s offending was at the “low end of the spectrum of objective seriousness”.
He also ordered both players to pay $10,000 in pecuniary penalties.
Lewis was sacked by Macarthur FC. (ABC News: Nabil Al-Nashar)
Magistrate Blair said their lack of prior criminal convictions and the single charge led to a reduced penalty.
He also cited psychological reports provided by Lewis’s defence showing he has been diagnosed with a gambling addiction, major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder from his arrest.
Lewis, who now works in a store, has been ordered to continue psychiatric treatment for gambling addiction and depression.
According to the police, the 28-year-old was allegedly targeted for recruitment by Mr Dávila in the scam due to his known weakness to gambling.
The magistrate also noted the power imbalance between Mr Dávila and Lewis, given he was the team’s captain and was instrumental in getting him hired by the club.
Baccus says he will never play football again. (ABC News: Simon Amery)
Magistrate Blair noted evidence of Baccus’s good character and positive prospects for rehabilitation and his “genuine remorse”.
Baccus has been working as a truck driver, and at 34 years of age, has said he will never play football again.
He has been ordered to get treatment for gambling addiction.
Both Lewis and Baccus have been suspended from playing football in Australia.
Neither had a conviction recorded against them.