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Texas gambler pleads guilty to threatening UofL coach Brohm after $80K loss
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- Texas gambler pleads guilty to threatening UofL coach Brohm after $80K loss
The Texas sports gambler and the rest of the courtroom listened Feb. 17 as Jefferson Circuit Judge Tracy Davis read for more than three minutes a victim impact statement from University of Louisville quarterback Miller Moss.
In the statement, the Cardinals quarterback expressed how his shock turned to fear for the safety of his family and loved ones after a Texas man allegedly sent Moss a text last fall stating: "I'm going to spend the rest of my life making yours miserable. You cost me $80,000 last night You can either pay me or suffer the consequences. You your girlfriend and your parents. They will all suffer."
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'Sleazy and vile': Read Miller Moss' full statement here
That man, Brian S. Mandel, wore a red tie to his appearance in Davis' court. As she read, he dropped his head into his hands for a few seconds. Then, defense attorney Steve Romines put his arm around his client and began whispering to him.
Mandel, from Corpus Christi, Texas, and a former vice chair of the Corpus Christi Planning Commission, sent threatening text messages to UofL football coach Jeff Brohm as fans were still exiting L&N Stadium on Nov. 8 after the Cardinals lost 29-26 to Cal in overtime. Mandel later allegedly sent the text message to Moss.
On Feb. 17, Mandel pled guilty on an agreed deal between the Commonwealth Attorney's office and Romines that the attorneys handed to Davis.
Brian Mandel, at right, before his hearing Tuesday, Feb.17, 2025 in Judge Tracy E. Davis' court room. Mandel would plead guilty to one count of terroristic threatening with four years suspended for diversion. Mandel, of Texas, threatened UofL football coach Jeff Brohm as well as former quarterback Miller Moss after Mandel lost $80,000 betting on Cards-Cal football game in 2025.
In the deal, Mandel agreed to one count of terroristic threatening in the second degree, a felony, for a text message he sent to Brohm that led to "immediate security actions and round-the-clock security," per court records.
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Six other counts, including five terroristic threatening charges and one criminal attempt of theft by extortion over $10,000, were dismissed.
Court records show the charge for theft by extortion over $10,000 was regarding the threats Mandel made to Miller Moss and "individuals associated with him."
Davis continued to read Moss' statement aloud to the court:
"While the actions Brian Mandel took were not unheard of (making an uninformed wager on a series of college football games, and lashing out after the fact at everyone except himself) the lengths he went to in order to exact 'revenge' for his ignorant choices represents something far worse.
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"Every Saturday in the fall 18- to 23-year-olds play hundreds of games across the country. Half of those teams and the players on those losing teams receive a lot of backlash because of it. An African American teammate of mine received a message saying, 'We should bring back slavery' because he dropped a pass. And that is just the tip of the iceberg."
More: Louisville football hit by America's gambling woes. More protection needed from pitfalls
In explaining the deal to the judge, Scott Drabenstadt, an assistant Commonwealth attorney, told Davis: "We don't downplay that for three days in November, in the lives of multiple people, there was a lot of fear, terror and mobilization of resources because it was unknown. It was unknown who this threat person was. … While everything he did was criminal and the effects on the individuals, there was not that long-term threat. Because of that, that's this amendment."
Next to him, University of Louisville police detective James Brooks sat quietly, wearing a red and white polo with a UofL Cardinal embroidered over his heart.
The felony charge would have carried a sentence of four years, however the attorneys presented Davis with a pretrial diversion order, granting Mandel two years of an unsupervised sentence where he must not gamble at all, including friendly bets with friends. He was ordered to make a payment for $1,190, which is a partial restitution payment to UofL for the overtime costs for security and protection following his threats.
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Drabenstadt held up a check for the judge that Mandel had already written for that partial payment.
Mandel was also ordered by Davis to see a counselor and report back to the Commonwealth attorneys' office every six months for those two years.
If he successfully follows all of those orders, the charges against him will be dismissed and he would not be considered a felon. The dismissed charges would then be expungable.
Before Davis started granting motions, Romines also told the judge the parties agreed to "convert the bond from $100,000 to ROR before we enter the plea."
ROR stands for release on recognizance, which is a form of bail that does not involve any payment.
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As previously reported by The Courier Journal, court records show on Nov. 8 and Nov. 9, Mandel allegedly made "terroristic threats" against Brohm, his wife, his children and his brother Brian, who is also the team's quarterbacks coach, as well as Moss. The texts created "fear of death or serious physical injury," according to the indictment.
The first threatening message came in at around 11 p.m. on Nov. 8, just 15 minutes after UofL's overtime loss.
"I am going to find and kill you and your entire (expletive) family you piece of (expletive), ..."
Another message which closely mirrored the first, and others, were heavily redacted in a University of Louisville Police report, obtained by The Courier Journal through Kentucky's open records law. Though in the report it is unclear through which platform the messages were sent, UofL spokesperson John Karman previously told The Courier Journal that the alleged threats were made via text message.
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Mandel resigned from the coastal Texas city's planning commission following his indictment by a grand jury on Nov. 10 on seven charges . He was arrested by UofL police on Nov. 11, Karman previously confirmed to The Courier Journal. Mandel originally entered a not-guilty plea during his Nov. 12 arraignment.
The police report lists six victims, all redacted, all whose relationship to Mandel is listed as "stranger."
In his statement, Moss indicted those who gamble on college football and then lash out at those who play the game.
"The large majority of this absurd hatred is fueled by sports gambling," Moss said in his statement. "These people gamble on sports of their own volition and then blame players when they lose money. Not only is this illogical but it is the height of weakness and lack of accountability. People who could not walk a day in the shoes of someone who has worked their entire life to have played a game on this stage hide and cower behind fake accounts and burn numbers and berate kids half their age."
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The Corpus Christi Caller-Times contributed reporting.
Stephanie Kuzydym is an enterprise and investigative sports reporter. Reach her at skuzydym@courier-journal.com or @stephkuzy .
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Texas gambler pleads guilty to threatening UofL coach Jeff Brohm
