U.S. Attorney Indictment of MA Sports Exec for Visa Conspiracy Tied to Soccer Team Owned By NJ Gov.
Saturday, February 13, 2021
On Friday, the U.S. Attorney in Boston announced that the former Chief Operating Officer of Global Premier Soccer (GPS), a now-defunct youth soccer organization formerly based in Waltham, Massachusetts, was charged in connection with a wide-ranging visa fraud conspiracy. GPS ran youth soccer programs across the country and was a major player in New England youth sports.
The conspiracy was connected to a number of individuals and a group of women’s professional soccer teams, including one that is partly owned primarily by N.J. Governor Phil Murphy and his wife Tammy as well as former Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Steven H. Temares.
That women’s team — the New Jersey Sky Blue FC, which is headlined by star players including US national team superstar Carli Lloyd — is identified in court documents filed by the U.S. Attorney.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTOn Friday, Justin Capell, 39, the former COO of GPS who lives in Southborough, Massachusetts, was charged and has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit visa fraud.
According to court documents, from at least 2016 to October 2019, Capell conspired with other GPS executives and employees, and with one of GPS’s outside counsel, to defraud several federal agencies by submitting fraudulent visa petitions in order to secure work visas for hundreds of GPS employees.
Specifically, it is alleged that Capell and his co-conspirators arranged to file fraudulent visa petitions on behalf of at least seven professional soccer teams in order to secure visas for GPS’s foreign coaching staff. GoLocal has learned that one of the seven soccer teams involved in the effort is Murphy’s Sky Blue club.
GoLocal has secured emails outlining the scheme. Both Murphy and Temares are copied on several emails between GPS, Sky Blue, and their attorneys in which they are negotiating a deal.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, the petitions for visas falsely stated that the beneficiaries would be working as scouts or assistant coaches for the professional teams when in reality they were employed only as youth soccer coaches by GPS.
The U.S. Attorney’s office alleges that “as part of the conspiracy, Capell and others submitted phony employment contracts between professional teams and the purported beneficiaries...according to the government, it is also alleged by the government that Capell and co-conspirators created fraudulent coaching licenses for the beneficiaries, which were included as part of the visa application packages.”
According to the U.S. Attorney, a "second facet of the conspiracy involved the filing of fraudulent visa petitions for foreign workers who were scheduled to work for GPS affiliates in one part of the country, but who were sent to work in different parts of the United States.”
In some instances, it is alleged that conspirators directed visa beneficiaries to mislead U.S. immigration officials – providing them with detailed instructions on how to answer questions during their visa interviews.
In one email, Christy Holly, then the coach of the Sky Blue, wrote to Phil Murphy, Temares and others, “Guys: I have a general understanding of the relationship they have with the Breakers and I believe it has 2 separate pieces; one is for tickets/sponsorship with no mention of P1s and the other is the P1s tied to scouting."
"I think what happened with this doc is that it got pulled out of a doc that was to include GPS also running the Sky Blue Academy. With GPS being in 21 states, Canada, the UK and Costa Rica, I think we can justify them providing scouting services for both us and the Breakers. I hope this helps – for more specific information on this it might be best to speak with the GPS CEO," Holly continued.
In a separate email relating to the deal between GPS and the Sky Blue, Capell outlines the deal in detail, “International Player Contract:
The term of every approved P-1 visa is dictated by the expiration date of the International Players contract. This player must also be on a P-1 Visa. This is the extent to which the visa and/or applicant is ‘tied to the contract of a Sky Blue FC International Player’.
This language was included in the proposed draft agreement to ensure the GPS employee, who is recipient of a Sky Blue
FC P-1 visa, is granted the maximum status term possible. We understand that contracts for International Players cannot
exceed 2 years, so acknowledge that depending on the timing of the application submission, the P-1 visa may run for less
than 2 years. Essentially, GPS would be seeking to secure clarity on the term of the International Players contract prior to
the execution of this agreement, to avoid the possibility of only attaining a short term (less than 18 months) visa in returnfor the outlay of $50,000."
The email outlines in multiple places that GPS will pay Murphy and Temares’ Sky Blue $50,000 as a part of this deal.
Former Coach Holly, reached by phone Friday night, said that he was not aware that the visa recipients who were supposed to scout for the team ever worked with the club. “I never had any direct dealing with them,” said Holly. “They never showed.”
Holly said the agreement was the responsibility of the General Manager —who at the time of the agreement the GM was Tony Novo.
This is not the first controversy tied to the ownership.
In 2018, the Murphys’ team came under fire for their management of the team, according to northjersey.com.
Murphy’s team came under scrutiny for “alleged mismanagement and providing poor living conditions for its players.”
"I don't find the status quo tolerable — and these players deserve better," Murphy said in a statement in July of 2018. “They deserve to operate in a professional and supportive environment so they can do what they do best — play the game, inspire fans, and build community through the power of the world's most popular sport."
Then, in 2019, the NY Post reported more problems with Murphy's team.
"Sky Blue FC’s new star draft picks are refusing to sign with the team over reports of deplorable housing and training facility conditions — including non-working bathrooms — and systemic mismanagement. Players have been forced to deal with showerless locker rooms, run-down lodging and pervy landlords, according to reports. Not even a call from the Democratic governor himself could convince Jersey girl and No. 6 overall draft pick Julia Ashley to join her hometown team this season.
Murphy “just kind of told me, ‘You need to take a little bit of a leap of faith with us,’ and come see how everything is going to be in terms of living and facilities and things are going to be more structured,” Ashley told ThinkProgress. Instead Ashley — who starred at UNC Chapel Hill — will play for Linkopings FC in Sweden."
Dan Bryan, who is the Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications in Murphy's communications office at the State House, referred GoLocal's questions about the federal investigation and Murphy's involvement to Sky Blue.
Specifically, Bryan referred GoLocal to Sky Blue's spokeswoman Karen Kessler - an outside PR consultant who specializes in crissis communications. She told GoLocal that, "my firm has represented Sky Blue for 2 years." GoLocal submitted a series of questions to Kessler and she did not respond.
GoLocal also submitted questions directly to Murphy's personal email and he did not respond.
Questions remain, including why the Murphys and Termares did not raise concerns when the "scouts" did not report to the team or submit assessments/scouting reports.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, “In May 2020, Gavin MacPhee, a former GPS employee, pleaded guilty to destroying records in connection with this investigation.
The charging statute provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge are based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.”
Capell’s plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the court, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
One direct RI tie is Steve Griffin, the author of Front Row Seat - Greed and Corruption in a Youth Sports Company. The Providence resident has been a key player in unveiling the GPS scheme.
Editor's Note: Story updated 2/13/21 at 9:11 AM to clarify the referral of questions from Governor Murphy's office to the team.
