No criminal charges in UNLV phone cards

Jennifer Knight

Friday, July 18, 2003 | 11:41 a.m.

After a two-month investigation into the unauthorized use of phone cards by UNLV students and student-athletes, university officials announced today that no criminal charges will be filed, although other penalties are still possible.

University police found that as many as 500 students made $65,520 in unauthorized charges using the phone card of John Jackson, assistant football coach. Using Jackson's personal identification number, students racked up 546,000 minutes of call time over a two-year period, according to a report by UNLV's Department of Public Safety.

UNLV officials decided seeking criminal prosecution of the students would be too difficult, according to a letter written by Rebecca Mills, vice president of student life.

"A number of factors make this a complex case for prosecution," Mills wrote in the letter dated Wednesday.

The school plans to seek restitution for the financial loss. And students involved in the scheme will face a student judicial review board. The board has the power to place disciplinary holds on records until students pay the money back.

The university has also notified the National Collegiate Athletic Association of the problem, which could result in the NCAA-mandated suspension of some athletes.

The scheme came to light in May after an internal review flagged phone charges that were higher than usual.

As a result of the investigation, students will no longer be able to use the PINs from campus residence halls, the area where most of the calls were made.

The school's billing system has also been changed to give a more detailed report.