PROVO — A Provo man is accused of trying to buy season courtside seats to Brigham Young University men's hoops games with a check that the school and police say bounced so hard he might as well have signed his name on a basketball.
Jeremy King, 27, has been charged in 4th District Court with two second-degree felonies — issuing a bad check or draft and money laundering.
BYU Police Lt. Mike Harroun said King wrote a check for $12,000 for four season tickets to basketball games, which included half-time snacks, a pre-game meal, an autographed basketball and BYU apparel.
King's attorney Jere Reneer said his client denies the allegations
"We have a defense that will be presented at the appropriate time," Reneer said.
The bad-check or draft charge means King, who wrote the check in 2004, knew there wasn't enough money in his account to cover it. The money-laundering charge was filed because King benefited from the tickets he received as a result of writing the check, said Utah County prosecutor Curtis Larson.
According to Utah Code, anything stolen or obtained that is worth more than $5,000 qualifies as a second-degree felony. There is no first-degree felony charge for theft or issuing a bad check.
BYU's collections department tried to contact King in 2004 when the check wouldn't clear the bank. However, they were unable to contact him through various numbers and addresses, Harroun said.
A BYU police officer alerted to the situation identified King at a basketball game this January and asked him about the debt, Harroun said.
"They got a verbal commitment on his part to make the check good, but he never did make it good," Harroun said. "He wasn't able to cover it."
The case was then turned over to the Utah County Attorney's Office, and prosecutors filed charges in late February.
King has been sent a summons to appear in court on March 28, Larson said.
In 2005, King was accused of siphoning money from a fund to purchase supplies for the Spanish Fork High School girls soccer team.
In September, King pleaded guilty to a class A misdemeanor of unlawful dealing with property by fiduciary and was sentenced to 60 hours of community service and eight days of work diversion through the jail.
King, who was head coach, allegedly pulled out more than $1,300 from the account to pay off personal debts, with the promise he'd pay the money back.
Reneer said that King set up the account and raised any money that was in the account. Because of that, account funds could be used at his discretion.
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