Associated Press | Deadspin | NFL.com
Joshua Barber and Nicholas Kaiser of Plymouth, Mass., face up to five years in prison and a $500,000 fine for allegedly recording a call they engineered between former Buffalo Bills General Manager Buddy Nix and Tampa Bay Buccaneers GM Mark Dominik.
In a criminal complaint posted on Deadspin, federal prosecutors say Deadspin posted audio from the call and paid the pair $200. In an email to Poynter, Deadspin Editor Tommy Craggs confirmed the payment.
“It was fairly innocuous stuff, a time-tested trick earning yuks at the expense of self-serious football men,” Deadspin’s Jack Dickey writes.
Writing for NFL.com, Dan Hanzus sounds a more ominous note: “The next time you and your friends begin to scheme about an elaborate phone-prank scenario involving NFL front-office personnel, keep the potential consequences in mind.”
