By Jon Gold | Special to the Arizona Daily Star
They stood and hugged, and this was not a short embrace.
Book Richardson and Tony Bland, once two of the most prominent assistant coaches in Pac-12 men’s basketball, now in the throes of one of the biggest scandals in college basketball history, bonded together moments after being given their bond instructions.
The two coaches spent most of their morning in silence inside Courtroom 5A of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse in lower Manhattan.
Richardson and Bland face a myriad of felony charges, including 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.
For both Richardson and Bland: a $100,000 bond, cosigned by two financially responsible individuals, pretrial supervision that includes travel restricted to their homes and to and from New York, and the surrendering of passports. Both have preliminary hearings scheduled for Nov. 9.
