Former Indiana University basketball player Todd Leary was arrested by the Carmel Police Department on Oct. 9 and charged with two felony counts of theft and one felony count of fraud. Prosecutors said additional charges could follow.
Leary, 54, is being held at the Hamilton County Jail on a $50,000 bail, according to public jail records.
Authorities say the case involves payments for basketball lessons, training sessions, and an amateur youth basketball team that Leary allegedly promised to form but never did. The victim reportedly paid Leary a total of $48,900 for services that were not fully delivered. Leary collected the checks from the victim’s Carmel-based business.
The victim declined to comment.
Leary played 107 games for Indiana University from 1989–1994 and was part of the 1992 Final Four team. After his playing career, he served as a color commentator for IU men’s basketball radio broadcasts from 2001–2009 and was also a member of Lawrence North’s 1989 state championship team.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed by Carmel Police on Sept. 25, the victim reported the alleged fraud in May 2025 after months of irregular communication and incomplete services.
The report outlines a series of payments beginning in January 2024, when the victim paid Leary $3,000 for basketball training advertised on Indiana Sports Talk. Leary later offered a “lifetime training deal” for $5,000, promising to train the victim’s son through high school.
Over the following months, Leary repeatedly requested additional payments, citing reasons such as coaching fees, facility rentals, and new AAU team expenses. He also claimed connections with Indiana Elite, Purdue University, and various coaches — all of which were later denied by those parties.
By March 2025, the victim became frustrated, telling police that Leary rarely provided lessons and that the promised AAU basketball team never materialized.
Text messages obtained by police show Leary admitting fault, stating, “I keep screwing up everything I try to do… I’m going to give you all $50,000 back… I’ll get the remaining 30k back by giving you 5k per month for 6 months.” However, no repayments were made, and communication stopped in May.
Investigators confirmed that most of the victim’s checks had been cashed.
This is not Leary’s first run-in with the law. He was arrested in 2010 for misappropriation of funds and later sentenced to two years of home detention and two years of probation. That same year, he was also arrested for burglary and theft involving stolen appliances from foreclosed homes, for which he served one year in jail in 2012.
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