In a final effort of teamwork, the eight men who were either dismissed or suspended from the Rutgers football team last summer came up with the $11,250 they allegedly stole in a credit card scheme to avoid jail time.

The eight men — Brendan Devera, Kai “K.J.’’ Gray, Malik Vaccaro-Dixon, Edwin Lopez, Kwabena “Kobe” Marfo, Syhiem Simmons, Christian "C.J.'' Onyechi and Naijee Jones — were sentenced to pre-trial intervention for 18 months by Judge Pedro Jimenez in Middlesex County Superior Court Thursday morning.

Jimenez was prepared to sentence the eight players to PTI first thing Thursday morning — until one former player was about $1,500 short, to the judge’s dismay. It delayed the hearing roughly three hours while the eight attorneys huddled with their clients in an effort to come up with the money.

Eventually, seven former players chipped in to help Edwin Lopez, who had insufficient funds.

The players were accused of stealing credit card numbers and transferring funds from various Rutgers University Express Accounts for their own personal use. Rutgers’ dining services office paid the restitution to the victims, and the players were ordered to pay back the university.

Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Russell Curley told Jimenez the state supported PTI contingent on all eight making full monetary restitution.

If the players meet the conditions of the PTI program for 18 months, their charges will be dismissed. Under the program, they must report to a supervisor and avoid new offenses. If they fail to comply with the terms of the PTI program, their cases will be returned to criminal court for prosecution.

“What all these scholar-athletes got today was a diversion program,’’ said Cedric Ashley, Gray’s attorney. “It says that, regardless of what the press or the world makes of it, level-headed prosecutors saw this as young students making bad judgements. In doing that, it says if they participate in the program, stay out of trouble for the 18 months of diversion, then the cases will be dismissed and they will not have a record.’’

Kai “K.J.’’ Gray, who was accused of a taking part in a credit card fraud scheme, during a hearing to enter the Pre Trial Intervention program to avoid jail time, before Judge Pedro Jimenez at the Middlesex County Courthouse in New Brunswick, N.J. He is one of eight men who were either dismissed or suspended from the Rutgers football team last summer for their alleged roles in a credit-card fraud scheme. Thursday, February, 28, 2019 (Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for

While seven of the eight players were charged with third- and fourth-degree offenses, Gray was charged in the second-degree, Curley said, “because the investigation indicated that he was the one who actually orchestrated the entire plot.’’

Gray was ordered to plea guilty to conspiring with the other players as the “organizer’’ of the plan to commit the offenses of theft by deception and fraudulent use of a credit card.

“Certain rules and statutes require a plea,’’ Ashley said. “A plea is just part of his pre-trial intervention. At the end of the period, it will dismissed. This is not a conviction. This is not a sentence. This is a diversion. Once he’s done with complying in the (PTI) program, the plea will be done and he will start fresh. And rightly so. The system is not set up to lock everyone up and throw everyone away. It’s set to bring some level of justice.’’

Curley and the prosecutor’s office declined to comment further.

Vaccaro-Dixon, Jones, Onyechi and Marfo remained at Rutgers while dealing with their legal issues, attending classes while serving a team suspension last fall.

A Rutgers athletics spokesperson confirmed Thursday that Vaccaro-Dixon, Jones, Onyechi and Marfo are back on the team, but said it’s “on a probationary basis through the spring.’’ The Scarlet Knights are in the midst of their winter-conditioning program and begin spring practice on March 8. The four players will be allowed to participate in the 15-practice spring camp.

There was precedent for Rutgers officials to decide to reinstate the four players who remained enrolled at the university last fall while serving a suspension. In 2017, the University of Florida experienced a similar credit card fraud case.

Nine Florida football players were accused of using stolen credit card information from victims to transfer nearly $15,000 to their accounts for personal use. Ultimately, the two alleged ringleaders pled no contest to one third-degree felony charge of scheming to defraud and received two years of probation and the other seven received PTI in the case, according to a TampaBay.com report.

Five of the seven players reportedly rejoined the team and played for the Gators in 2018. The other two either left for the NFL (receiver Antonio Callaway now plays for the Cleveland Browns) or opted to transfer.

While Devera, Lopez and Simmons attended junior college last fall and have expressed hope to continue their football careers at bigger schools, Gray sat out while attending classes at Raritan Valley Community College. He said he expects to earn his associates degree in June.

“After that I’m able to transfer to a four-year institution with two years of eligibility to play,’’ said Gray, a St. Peter’s Prep product who was in line to start at defensive back before his legal troubles started. “My desire was hopefully to return to Rutgers. But the decision is on them. Other than that I’m still open to any school that’s willing to take me. It’s been hard. When I got dismissed from Rutgers I didn’t know what to do. I’m glad it’s coming to an end. I shouldn’t have been in this situation anyway. So I take this on me.’’

Kevin Gray expressed hope that his son will be able to continue his football career elsewhere.

“We come from a Rutgers family,’’ he said. “We have four Rutgers alums in our family, including my 87-year old mother. My son comes from a good family. I need Rutgers to understand that. We’re not here to hurt Rutgers. We love Rutgers.’’

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.

Sophie Nieto-Munoz may be reached at snietomunoz@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her at @snietomunoz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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