Not guilty plea entered for ex-IU player Leary

FORT WAYNE — A judge has made a preliminary not guilty plea for a former Indiana University basketball player charged in connection with an ex-business partner’s multimillion-dollar fraud scheme.

The plea was entered for 39-year-old Todd Leary of Carmel during an Allen County court hearing Tuesday.

Leary’s attorney, Ginny Maxwell, said Wednesday it was too early in court proceedings to comment on the allegations against him.

Prosecutors say Leary once worked for a title insurance broker who pleaded guilty to several charges in a $2.7 million scheme and that Leary conspired to divert more than $1 million from the partner’s title company in Fort Wayne.

Leary played for Indiana during 1989-94 and had been an analyst for IU’s radio broadcasts for several years.