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Originally Posted by Nevadaref
Three things:
1. These are FEDERAL charges, so the government's authority comes under the interstate commerce clause. Hence, you see charges such as wire fraud and transmitting across state lines.
2. The federal prosecutors charge people with what they can PROVE, not necessarily with what they may also be guilty of doing. When they have something clear cut which is going to put someone away, their attitude is that is good enough. Think back to what they finally pinned on Al Capone--tax evasion.
3. This is a plea BARGAIN. So each side is making some concessions here. In return the government is getting a conviction without much work in court, and the individual (and the NBA) is saving some face by picking to exactly which charges he stipulates. Certain words may sound better or worse.
For example, "fixing games" has a very negative connotation, while "wire fraud" is rather mundane.
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I agree with all three counts. My point, however, is that I don't know that the NBA is going to be able to get much closure out of this plea bargain. Neither of the actual charges is nearly as damaging to the NBA as the allegations that have come out in the press, so it seems there will not be any resolution of the questions that actually give the game a head ache.