- Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis faced Sydney’s Central Local Court
- Both footballers were issued two-year conditional release orders
- Alleged mastermind was former Macarthur Bulls captain Ulises Davila
Two former A-League players who deliberately received yellow cards in exchange for $10,000 have escaped a conviction on their criminal record.
Ex-Macarthur Bulls duo Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis will serve a two-year conditional release order, similar to a good behaviour bond, after they were sentenced in Sydney on Wednesday.
They will also have to repay the $10,000 they received for getting the yellow cards in December 2023 as a fine.
The pair were ‘right at the bottom of the scheme’ allegedly orchestrated by their then-captain Ulises Davila, magistrate Michael Blair said at the Central Local Court.
The charges related to a Macarthur game against Sydney FC on December 9, 2023 when bets were placed on the Bulls to receive at least four yellow cards in the match.
Winning payouts for the bets placed in South America through gambling site Betplay and allegedly orchestrated by Davila totalled more than $167,000.
Two former A-League players who deliberately received yellow cards in exchange for $10,000 have escaped a conviction on their criminal record (pictured, disgraced Macarthur Bulls midfielder Kearyn Baccus)
Kearyn Baccus and Clayton Lewis (pictured) will serve a two-year conditional release order, similar to a good behaviour bond, after they were sentenced in Sydney on Wednesday
Former Macarthur captain Ulises Davila has not yet entered pleas to nine charges against him and will face court on September 25
The agreed facts state Davila recruited Lewis due to his history of gambling addiction and to receive ‘a little bit of extra coin’.
Mr Blair found there was no evidence the two men had any knowledge of the wagers being placed on their actions or even how much they would be paid.
In submissions, lawyers for the two stressed the uneven relationship between them and Davila, saying the captain was ‘not only the captain of the team, but the captain of the scheme’.
All three players were suspended by Macarthur FC after their arrests.
Davila and Baccus have since been released from their contracts, with Baccus now working as a truck driver.
The prosecution argued Baccus should be given a harsher sentence because he tried to hide his payment from Davila as a car purchase but Mr Blair disagreed, saying both men committed low-level offences.
Davila, accused of acting as a conduit between the Macarthur players and a Colombian criminal known as ‘J Col’, has not yet entered pleas to nine charges against him.
He will face court on those charges on Thursday.
