7 day forecast
Court filing: NCAA will not yet distribute $12 million Penn State fine in Sandusky case
Share with others:
HARRISBURG -- The NCAA has no immediate plans to distribute the $12 million in fines paid so far by Penn State University and will notify a state senator before doing so, according to a court agreement.
As part of its sanctions in the Jerry Sandusky scandal, the university agreed to pay $60 million to create an endowment for programs related to child sexual abuse. State Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, introduced legislation and filed a lawsuit in an attempt to keep that money in Pennsylvania.
In a court agreement dated Tuesday, attorneys for Mr. Corman and the NCAA said the athletic association has notified the senator that "for multiple reasons it has no intention to disburse or otherwise dissipate said funds in the immediate future."
The NCAA also said it would tell Mr. Corman 60 days before distributing any of the money, according to the document.
For those reasons, according to the stipulation, both sides asked for a halt to a request by Mr. Corman that the courts stop the NCAA from distributing the $12 million already set aside by Penn State. The university agreed to pay the total sum over five years.
But the NCAA says it is not negotiating with Mr. Corman either on how the fine is spent or on his broader lawsuit trying to keep the entirety of the $60 million within Pennsylvania.
"We believe the senator's lawsuit is without basis, and we intend to proceed with the litigation," NCAA spokesman Bob Williams said in a statement. "As we've explained to the senator's lawyers in our discussions, no funds will be disbursed until a third-party administrator is appointed."
Until that time, Mr. Williams said, the money will be held in an independent account not controlled by the NCAA.
Penn State agreed in July to a set of sanctions that included the $60 million fine -- approximately one year's gross football revenue, according to the agreement with the NCAA -- and a four-year ban on postseason play.
The university announced in late December it had set aside the first installment of $12 million while an NCAA task force establishes the endowment.
First Published January 17, 2013 4:05 pm
