Dino Gaudio Receives Minimum Sentence in Federal Extortion Case

An eventful Friday afternoon for the Louisville men’s basketball picked up more steam in federal court. Hours after the university announced a six-game suspension for Chris Mack, former assistant Dino Gaudio was sentenced by a perplexed federal judge in the highly publicized extortion case.

Months after Gaudio pleaded guilty to interstate communication with the intent to extort, U.S. District Judge Benjamin Beaton issued a minimum sentence to the former UofL assistant. He received one year of probation and a $10,000 fine.

The sentencing hearing was not your run of the mill, uneventful afternoon in court. According to WDRB’s Jason Riley, Judge Beaton had some candid questions to ask, like, “Why we are even here on a federal felony today? This is a strange felony prosecution in my observation.”

The judge even asked the prosecution why this was considered a felony.

Interestingly, the judge repeatedly asked why this was a federal felony case and said “if I could give less (punishment) I would think hard about doing so in this instance.”
The sentence was the minimum

— Jason Riley (@JasonRileyWDRB) August 27, 2021

And so ends the saga that all began in the days after the Cardinals failed to make the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Gaudio, Mack’s former college coach and mentor, was fired by Mack following the disappointing season. Gaudio implored Mack to reconsider, then threatened to reveal low-level NCAA violations if he was not paid a six-figure severance. Mack recorded the conversation, then turned it into authorities.

Gaudio’s side of the story, naturally, paints himself as a sympathetic figure, accusing Mack of threatening to take away UofL scholarships. In the filing to federal court that requested leniency, John Calipari supported his old friend Dino Gaudio, writing, “Dino has accepted responsibility for his actions and hopefully will have the opportunity to impact countless more young coaches and players as he moves into the next phase of his life.”

The second UofL basketball extortion case has now seemingly come to a close. It ended with a judge asking the same question we all asked when the news broke, “How did a quarrel between friends turn into a federal case?”

In case you forgot, Chris Mack is still searching for his first NCAA Tournament win as the head coach of the Louisville basketball team.