Remember the story about the Mizzou fan who was arrested by FBI agents at the team hotel in Omaha, Nebraska, prior to the Tigers game against Norfolk State in the 2012 NCAA Tournament?
Levi McLean Franklin Coolley pleaded guilty on Jan. 17 to two felony counts of attempting to sell over 88 pounds of cocaine and unspecified amounts of marijuana between 2005 and 2011. He also pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering. Coolley was not a donor to the athletic program, but gained access to some team flights as a guest of donor Jay Linder. Coolley also received comp tickets to nine games from players.
Coolley was on the team plane on NCAA tournament trips to Boise, Idaho, and Phoenix in 2009; Buffalo, N.Y., in 2010; and to Washington, D.C., in 2011. Coolley also joined a team flight to Columbia from Austin, Texas, in January and received complimentary tickets from Missouri players at nine games in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.
No players or members of the university were known to have any other connections to Coolley after an internal investigation. Back in 2012, MU athletic department spokesman Chad Moller said, “We conducted a review, and we were comfortable with the results. It’s very concerning, and very troubling to hear that people who come around your program be accused of this type of thing. At a basic level, you try to trust that people are doing the right thing. But it’s impossible to know the background of everybody.”
Coolley, who owned a car stereo shop in Columbia, faces a minimum 10-year prison sentence. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.
