IN BRIEF : Sports Agents’ Case Goes to Jury

CHICAGO — The federal trial of sports agents Norby Walters and Lloyd Bloom went to a jury today. The two are accused of defrauding six universities by signing their scholarship football players as clients, and of threatening some players.

In his closing statement to jurors Wednesday, defense attorney Dan Webb implied that the real villains were student athletes who signed contracts that violated NCAA rules and the schools themselves. U.S. Atty. Anton Valukas, in his closing statement, maligned Webb’s tactics and argued that the sports agents knowingly cheated six universities out of scholarship money.

Walters, 58, and Bloom, 29, were charged with mail fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and racketeering. They were accused of luring dozens of college athletes with cash and other gifts to sign contracts in violation of NCAA rules, then using threats to keep their clients from reneging on the agreements.