CHARLESTON, Ill. (WAND) – A former basketball coach who admitted to sexually assaulting teenage players will have his case return to court in late January.
Court records show a new hearing is scheduled for Jan. 31 in the case of Barry Wolfe, who is charged with assaulting three players who were part of the Central Illinois Storm Elite AAU basketball team in their teen years. It happened between 2013 and 2015.
Two of those players said in court that they worked to get away from Wolfe by taking basketball scholarships in different states.
Wolfe has since filed to have his guilty plea withdrawn and his sentence reconsidered. He entered his guilty plea on June 26 to four sexual assault charges and was sentenced to a total of 60 years in prison, meant to be served as consecutive 15-year terms for each charge.
In his motion to withdraw, Wolfe claimed he “did not knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently plead guilty” and that he didn’t know the sentences were mandatory and consecutive until just before his plea hearing.
The Jan. 31 hearing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and is for attorneys only, court records say. The next step in response to Wolfe’s letter will be decided at that date, and prosecutors will have close to a month to figure out their answer to his motion.
