INDIANAPOLIS – The veteran journalist who co-authored a book filled with explosive allegations against the University of Louisville men's basketball program said Monday that the escort he wrote with is "pretty damn credible."
Dick Cady, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist based in Indianapolis, insisted that Katina Powell – a Louisville prostitute who claims a former U of L staff member paid thousands of dollars and gave game tickets to her and other escorts, including her own daughters, to provide sexual services to players and recruits – "never tried to back down or amplify or gussy something up."
"Every time that we went after a fact, we either found it or found something resembling it," said Cady, who did most of the book's reporting and writing with Patricia Keiffner, publisher of the Indianapolis Business Journal Book Publishing.
"Every time we hit her with a new question or an explanation, she came through. … I thought she was pretty damn credible for what she was."
Cady was a part of a team of Indianapolis Star reporters that won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Local Investigative Specialized Reporting for its work exposing police corruption. Cady and fellow Star journalist William Anderson were indicted for attempting to bribe a policeman in late 1974 when they say they followed an informant to witness what he said would be police bribery. Instead, they were accused of having a hand in the bribe, though those charges were dropped by the prosecutor, who said "there is no evidence a crime has been committed." Cady has called the charges a "frame-up" job.
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Powell's claims, chronicled in five journals that she allegedly kept from 2010-14, when she says the illicit activities took place, have prompted U of L to hire its own private investigator. The book, titled "Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen," has also caught the attention of the NCAA's enforcement arm.
The former Louisville staffer in question, Andre McGee, who is now an assistant coach at University of Missouri-Kansas City, has been placed on administrative leave there and has hired Louisville lawyer Scott Cox.
McGee's former coach and employer, U of L head coach Rick Pitino, reiterated Monday to ESPN that neither he nor any of his other staff members or players who were at U of L from 2010-14 "had any knowledge" of Powell or the alleged activities involving Louisville's players or recruits.
Powell, in a September interview with the IBJ, said McGee told her Pitino "knows everything" that goes on with his basketball program.
"That was the implication, yes," Cady said during an hour-long interview in his home on Monday.
But, he explained, that claim was not in the book, which was released online on Friday night, because Powell did not make that same claim to him or Keiffner.
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"When you've got all this stuff going on for such a long time, and it's so loud – let's remember, they were playing rap music and hip hop, and it was so loud," Cady said. "And nobody knows nothing? Yeah, OK."
Cady said he was first approached about Powell's book idea in April. Powell, he said, came to the IBJ "with a bag full of her journals." After the IBJ's book division looked over the content of Powell's journals, Cady was asked to assess them and write the book.
"I didn't want to take part in the project," he said. "I saw it as an awful lot of work involving a lot of time ..."
Cady said he expected "a lot of problems" would pop up while researching the book. But he ultimately decided to take on the project because it was "a hell of a story."
Cady and Keiffner took six months to report, write and edit the book. He estimated that he spoke to Powell 10-15 times, while Keiffner spoke with her "practically every day." They read each page of Powell's journals, copies of which Cady keeps in a closet in his home office and stack about two feet high.
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The IBJ hired Indianapolis-based Certified Fraud & Forensic Investigation to comb through Powell's phone and corroborate phone calls and text messages and match up the phone numbers she was claiming she was contacting. The firm digging through Powell's phone, Cady said, eased any concerns they had about the supposed "virus" that Powell claims in the book erased hundreds of text messages with McGee.
Asked if the firm confirmed that it was indeed McGee who was contacting Powell, Cady thumbed a stack of cellphone data records and said, "Oh, yeah." Cady declined to share the records with The Courier-Journal.
Asked if he ever doubted the veracity of any of Powell's claims at any point in the process, Cady flatly said no.
"It seemed to me that there were three things there: No. 1, the university stuff; No. 2, this incredible thing about the escort business; and No. 3, the unbelievable thing about her and her daughters," Cady said, referring to Powell's claims that she used her daughters as entertainers and prostitutes.
Dick Cady, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist based in Indianapolis, insisted that Katina Powell – a Louisville prostitute who claims a former U of L staff member paid thousands of dollars and gave game tickets to her and other escorts, including her own daughters, to provide sexual services to players and recruits – "never tried to back down or amplify or gussy something up."
"Every time that we went after a fact, we either found it or found something resembling it," said Cady, who did most of the book's reporting and writing with Patricia Keiffner, publisher of the Indianapolis Business Journal Book Publishing.
"Every time we hit her with a new question or an explanation, she came through. … I thought she was pretty damn credible for what she was."
Cady was a part of a team of Indianapolis Star reporters that won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Local Investigative Specialized Reporting for its work exposing police corruption. Cady and fellow Star journalist William Anderson were indicted for attempting to bribe a policeman in late 1974 when they say they followed an informant to witness what he said would be police bribery. Instead, they were accused of having a hand in the bribe, though those charges were dropped by the prosecutor, who said "there is no evidence a crime has been committed." Cady has called the charges a "frame-up" job.
THE COURIER-JOURNAL
Sullivan | What Pitino doesn't know could hurt him
Powell's claims, chronicled in five journals that she allegedly kept from 2010-14, when she says the illicit activities took place, have prompted U of L to hire its own private investigator. The book, titled "Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen," has also caught the attention of the NCAA's enforcement arm.
The former Louisville staffer in question, Andre McGee, who is now an assistant coach at University of Missouri-Kansas City, has been placed on administrative leave there and has hired Louisville lawyer Scott Cox.
McGee's former coach and employer, U of L head coach Rick Pitino, reiterated Monday to ESPN that neither he nor any of his other staff members or players who were at U of L from 2010-14 "had any knowledge" of Powell or the alleged activities involving Louisville's players or recruits.
Powell, in a September interview with the IBJ, said McGee told her Pitino "knows everything" that goes on with his basketball program.
"That was the implication, yes," Cady said during an hour-long interview in his home on Monday.
But, he explained, that claim was not in the book, which was released online on Friday night, because Powell did not make that same claim to him or Keiffner.
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U of L accuser says she was told Pitino knew
"When you've got all this stuff going on for such a long time, and it's so loud – let's remember, they were playing rap music and hip hop, and it was so loud," Cady said. "And nobody knows nothing? Yeah, OK."
Cady said he was first approached about Powell's book idea in April. Powell, he said, came to the IBJ "with a bag full of her journals." After the IBJ's book division looked over the content of Powell's journals, Cady was asked to assess them and write the book.
"I didn't want to take part in the project," he said. "I saw it as an awful lot of work involving a lot of time ..."
Cady said he expected "a lot of problems" would pop up while researching the book. But he ultimately decided to take on the project because it was "a hell of a story."
Cady and Keiffner took six months to report, write and edit the book. He estimated that he spoke to Powell 10-15 times, while Keiffner spoke with her "practically every day." They read each page of Powell's journals, copies of which Cady keeps in a closet in his home office and stack about two feet high.
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The IBJ hired Indianapolis-based Certified Fraud & Forensic Investigation to comb through Powell's phone and corroborate phone calls and text messages and match up the phone numbers she was claiming she was contacting. The firm digging through Powell's phone, Cady said, eased any concerns they had about the supposed "virus" that Powell claims in the book erased hundreds of text messages with McGee.
Asked if the firm confirmed that it was indeed McGee who was contacting Powell, Cady thumbed a stack of cellphone data records and said, "Oh, yeah." Cady declined to share the records with The Courier-Journal.
Asked if he ever doubted the veracity of any of Powell's claims at any point in the process, Cady flatly said no.
"It seemed to me that there were three things there: No. 1, the university stuff; No. 2, this incredible thing about the escort business; and No. 3, the unbelievable thing about her and her daughters," Cady said, referring to Powell's claims that she used her daughters as entertainers and prostitutes.
