Caitlin Schmidt, Bruce Pascoe, Curt Prendergast

Arizona Daily Star

UPDATED AT 3:22 p.m.

Longtime Arizona assistant basketball coach Emanuel "Book" Richardson was released from federal custody on a $50,000 bond Tuesday, following his arrest as part of a federal corruption scheme.

Richardson appeared in U.S. District Court in Tucson on charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, solicitation of bribes by an agent of a federally funded organization, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and travel act conspiracy.

If convicted, Richardson is facing a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine, court officials said.

Richardson appeared in front of Magistrate Judge D. Thomas Ferraro wearing a red T-shirt emblazoned with "New Orleans Basketball" and a pair of black athletic shorts. His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 10 in New York.

The prosecutor asked Ferraro for a $100,000 bond, but defense attorney Brick Storts said that was "totally unreasonable," after which Ferraro agreed to the lower bond.

Outside of court, Storts said UA "has nothing to do with it."

Storts declined to tell the Star who was paying him.

EARLIER TUESDAY

The FBI has arrested four NCAA assistant basketball coaches - including Arizona Wildcats assistant Emanuel Richardson - on charges of fraud as part of a corruption scheme allegedly involving 10 total individuals. Also included are managers, financial advisers and representatives of a major international sportswear company.

The U.S. attorney general held a 9 a.m. news conference in New York on Tuesday to spell out the details.

Arizona Athletics announced Tuesday afternoon that Richardson was suspended, with pay, effective immediately. A little later, UA announced that its men's basketball media day, which was scheduled for Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the McKale Center in Tucson, has been postponed.

Statement from the University of Arizona

"We were made aware of the Department of Justice’s investigation this morning and we are cooperating fully with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office. Assistant coach Emmanuel Richardson was immediately suspended and relieved of all duties.

"We were appalled to learn of the allegations as they do not reflect the standards we hold ourselves to and require from our colleagues. The University of Arizona has a strong culture of compliance and the expectation is we follow the rules."

Statement from Arizona Athletics

"We became aware of the situation involving one of our men's basketball coaches Emmanuel Richardson this morning. We have been working in conjunction with the University, and have confirmed that Richardson has been suspended effective immediately. We will cooperate fully with authorities as they move through their investigation.

"We work under the basic directive that all department personnel operate within applicable laws and NCAA rules. The behavior that Richardson is accused of is completely unacceptable and does not reflect the principles of this athletics department."

Three other coaches involved

According to the FBI complaints made public, the four coaches involved also include Auburn assistant Chuck Person, USC assistant Tony Bland and Oklahoma State assistant Lamont Evans.

Auburn has suspended Person without pay, effective immediately, according to college sports reporter Brett McMurphy.

Those four coaches were among 10 people facing federal charges in New York's U.S. District Court. Court documents reveal that the FBI and U.S. Attorney have been investigating the matter since 2015. The investigation revealed numerous instances of bribes being offered to potential student-athletes.

Prosecutor Joon Kim, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, described the findings in a Tuesday afternoon news conference as "the dark underbelly of college athletics."

"The picture painted by the charges brought today is not a pretty one," Kim said. "Coaches at some of the nation’s top programs soliciting and accepting cash bribes. Managers and financial advisers circling blue chip prospects like coyotes. And employees of one of the world’s largest sportswear companies secretly funneling cash to the families of high school recruits."

Reaction from Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott

"As Commissioner of the Pac-12 Conference, I am deeply troubled by the charges filed in federal court today against a number of individuals involved in college basketball, including two assistant coaches employed by member institutions of our Conference. Protection of our student-athletes, and of the integrity of competition, is the Conference’s top priority. I have been in contact with the leadership of both universities and it is clear they also take this matter very seriously. We are still learning the facts of this matter, but these allegations, if true, are profoundly upsetting to me. They strike at the heart of the integrity of our programs, and of the game that so many people love and play the right way.”

Details about Arizona assistant

Richardson, who was paid $235,000 from Arizona in 2016-17, is in his ninth season with the Wildcats and 11th overall under coach Sean Miller.

In June and July, Richardson accepted $20,000 in cash bribes during meetings in New York and New Jersey with undercover agents and co-defendant Munish Sood, founder and CEO of the Princeton Advisory Group, an investment services company, according to the complaint.

Also named in the complaint is Christian Dawkins, a sports agent who was fired by ASM sports earlier this year but received money from Sood to start his own sports management company.

The day before the June meeting, an FBI wiretap recorded a phone call between Dawkins and Richardson, in which the two discuss a high school basketball player that Richardson was paying to recruit to play for the UA, the complaint says.

A month later, Dawkins told an undercover agent that Richardson needed another $15,000 to secure the player, who he identified as a "top point guard in the country," according to the complaint.

In a meeting in August, Richardson told Dawkins and Sood which current UA basketball players he intended to influence to sign with Dawkins new management company, the complaint says.

In addition to being arrested on charges of fraud as part of a corruption scheme, Richardson is facing charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, solicitation of bribes by an agent of a federally funded organization, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and travel act conspiracy.

Richardson, a New York native, helped recruit many East Coast players to Arizona, including former Wildcats standouts Mark Lyons and Kevin Parrom. Before coming to Arizona, Richardson ran the New York Gauchos AAU program.

Richardson was also involved in the recruitment of highly regarded New Jersey point guard Jahvon Quinerly, a high school senior who committed to Arizona last month to play for the Wildcats in 2018-19.

It's unclear what affect Richardson's arrest will have on Arizona with regards to the NCAA.

MORE:Read a copy of the federal indictment involving college basketball coaches

Others named in court documents

Court documents reveal that the FBI and U.S. Attorney have been investigating the matter since 2015. The investigation revealed numerous instances of bribes being offered to potential student-athletes.

The six others named on court documents included: James Gatto (director of global sports marketing at Adidas), Merl Code (recently left Nike for Adidas), Christian Dawkins (NBA agent who was recently fired from ASM Sports for charging approximately $42,000 in Uber charges on a player's credit card), Jonathan Brad Augustine (president of The League Initiative and program director of the Adidas-sponsored 1 Family AAU program), Munish Sood (a financial adviser), and Rishan Michel (former NBA official who founded Thompson Bespoke Clothing line).

Adidas issued the following statement, in reference to Gatto: "Today, we became aware that federal investigators arrested an Adidas employee. We are learning more about the situation. We're unaware of any misconduct and will fully cooperate with authorities to understand more."

Louisville, Miami among schools linked to probe

Names of specific schools were not named, only being referred to by numbers, as 'University 1,' University 6' and so on.

University 1 was identified as where Person was employed as an associate head coach and where he had previously played college basketball: Auburn.

One of the schools was based in the state of Kentucky and one of the schools was in the state of Florida.

The description of the school in Kentucky fits the profile for Louisville. The men's basketball program is on probation for NCAA violations after a former staffer was found to have arranged sexual favors for players and prospective recruits.

RELATED:Rick Pitino's Louisville tenure marked by highs, off-court lows

"We have no idea about any of this stuff," said Kenny Klein, a spokesman for the University of Louisville athletic department. "This is the first I've heard of it. Nobody in basketball is aware of any of this."

The profile of the school in Florida closely matches the University of Miami. The football and basketball programs were sanctioned by the NCAA in 2013 as part of a booster scandal that involved impermissible benefits. The probation for the violations ended last October.

Both Miami and Louisville are sponsored by Adidas.

The FBI alleges in one complaint unsealed Tuesday that “Person abused his coaching position (at Auburn) to solicit or obtain bribe payments” from a financial advisor for professional athletes. That financial advisor, who was not named in the indictment, was working with law enforcement as part of the investigation unbeknownst to Person and the other defendants.

Over a 10-month period, the financial advisor allegedly paid about $91,500 in bribes to Person in exchange for Person “agreeing to direct certain (Auburn) basketball players to retain the services (of the financial advisor) when those student-athletes entered the NBA.”

According to the complaint, Gato, Code, Dawkins and Sood “worked together to funnel $100,000 from (Adidas) to the family of a high school player in exchange for (the player’s) commitment to play at an NCAA Division I university whose athletic programs are sponsored by (Adidas).” The school was cited only as University 6.

Gato, Code, Augustine and Sod also allegedly agreed to make payments of as much as $150,000 from Adidas to another high school player to play at another school (referred to as University 7) in exchange for Dawkins’ services and a commitment to sign with Adidas after the player turned pro. Dawkins and Augustine also “agreed to facilitate payments to the family” of another unspecified high school player in exchange for that player’s commitment to University 6.

Michel, described in the complaints as the founder and operator of a clothing company in Atlanta, runs suit outfitter Thompson Bestow. A review of his client list --- which is no longer available online --- includes Jadeveon Clowney of the Houston Texans, Sammy Watkins of the St. Louis Rams and Mike Evans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This story is developing. USA TODAY Sports contributed to this story.