HILLSBOROUGH – Sports agent Terry Watson, the second to be indicted on felony charges related to the 2010 UNC football scandal, appeared in an Orange County courtroom Wednesday.

Watson, based-out of Georgia, faces 13 felony counts in violation of the North Carolina Uniform Athlete Act and one count of obstruction of justice, according to court documents unsealed Wednesday.

Sports agent Terry Watson

Sports agent Terry Watson

 

Thirteen charges are for athlete-agent inducement related to gifts provided to former UNC football players Greg Little, Robert Quinn and Marvin Austin. He also faces one felony count of obstruction of justice. He faces a maximum of 15 months in jail for each of the athlete-agent related charges and a maximum of 30 months in jail for the obstruction charge.

Watson is next scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 15, though Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall said that could change.

Watson is alleged to have provided Little with $18,200 in cash between May 2010 and October 2010. Watson is also charged with providing Little with $683.24 for a hotel room and $1,574 for airline tickets.

Court documents cite that Watson allegedly provided Quinn with $100, $675.74 for a hotel room in Miami and $750 for airline tickets. Watson is also charged with providing Austin with $2,000.

The Uniform Athlete Agent Act has been adopted by 40 states, including North Carolina, and says any agent must register with the state—specifically the Secretary of State in most cases—in order to act as an agent. Watson was registered in Georgia as a member of the Watson Sports Agency.

The UAAA is designed to shield athletes from sports agents who would offer gifts to entice them to sign representation contracts while competing on the college level.

Last week, Jennifer Wiley Thompson, the former UNC tutor connected to the football program scandal, was the first to be indicted for allegedly violating the North Carolina Uniform Athlete Act. She was charged with agent-athlete inducement on four low-level felony counts.

An Orange County grand jury issued multiple indictments On Sept. 30, three of which remain under seal.

A courthouse official told WCHL that it’s unlikely Thompson and Watson will serve the maximum punishment if convicted.

The degree of their sentence depends on their prior record, and the official said most of these people probably don’t have much of a record, so they’re more likely to just get probation.