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Report: Vince Wilfork Got Gifts From Miami Booster

BOSTON (CBS/AP) – New England Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork has been linked to a booster scandal at the University of Miami.

Nevin Shapiro, a former Miami booster who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for masterminding a $930 million Ponzi scheme, has told Yahoo! Sports he provided impermissible benefits to 72 of the university's football players and other athletes between 2002 and 2010.

Read: Wilfork Allegations

Shapiro says he gave money, cars, yacht trips, jewelry, televisions and other gifts to a list of players including Wilfork, Jon Beason, Antrel Rolle, Devin Hester, Willis McGahee and the late Sean Taylor.

Shapiro also claimed he paid for nightclub outings, sex parties, restaurant meals and in one case, an abortion for a woman impregnated by a player.

Yahoo! Sports says it spent 100 hours interviewing Shapiro over the span of 11 months and audited thousands of pages of financial and business records to check his claims.

"I did it because I could," Shapiro said of his spending.

"And because nobody stepped in to stop me."

Yahoo! Sports also said Shapiro paid Wilfork $50,000 as a recruiting tool to sign with sports agency Axcess Sports & Entertainment, a firm Shapiro claimed he co-owned for much of the time he was involved with the Hurricanes

There has been no comment from Wilfork, who declined to speak to Yahoo! Sports about Shapiro.

The Patriots drafted Wilfork in 2004, after he had played three years at Miami.

(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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