Federal prosecutors drop case against Bernie Fine

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Fine won't be charged

Bernie Fine will not be charged by Federal Prosecutors after a year-long investigation into child abuse allegations, the US Attorney’s Office announced on Friday morning.

“The nature and seriousness of these allegations, which involved conduct typically committed in private with individuals who are reluctant to come forward, warranted a thorough federal investigation,” United States Attorney Hartunian said.

fine2
Fine won’t be charged

Over the past year, investigators had looked through more than 100,000 pages of documents and spoken to more than 130 witnesses while working with multiple local and federal law enforcement agencies. That investigation didn’t warrant sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges.

» Related: Laurie Fine takes legal action against ESPN

Still, prosecutors said this wasn’t a confirmation, one way or the other, of what actually happened, only that there wasn’t enough evidence to proceed.

Fine was fired in November after 36 years at Syracuse after the allegations of two former Syracuse ball boys were aired on ESPN. While four accusers came forward, two have since recanted.

In May, Fine’s wife, Laurie, filed a lawsuit against ESPN for its reporting.

Previously, a statement issued by Fine called the allegations of the first two accusers “patently false.”

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About Wes Cheng 2907 Articles
Wes has worked for Rivals.com covering the New York Knicks, as well as for Scout.com covering Syracuse athletics. Wes has also been a contributing writer for the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), for SportsNet New York (SNY) as a news desk writer covering all of New York professional sports, and reported on the NBA and MLB for the New York Sportscene. A native of Long Island, New York, Wes graduated from Syracuse University in 2005 with a degree in journalism. Contact him at wes[at]sujuiceonline.com.