San Francisco Sports Agent With NFL Clients Netted In FBI Corruption Raids, Accused In Murder For Hire Plot
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- One of the men arrested in the FBI raids in the Bay Area and Sacramento that netted a California State Senator Wednesday is a San Francisco sports agent who belongs to a firm catering to upper-echelon sports figures.
Marlon Sullivan has been charged with involved in a murder-for-hire conspiracy, gun and drug trafficking and selling fraudulent credit cards, according to the federal complaint. He is alleged to be an associate of San Francisco political consultant Keith Jackson and his son, Brandon Jackson, who are facing similar charges.
In the complaint Sullivan is quoted by an undercover FBI agent as saying murder for hire is "easy work" and that "I will put eyes on the guy and have my boy knock him down." According to the complaint, when the undercover agent said he thought Sullivan would bring someone from the East Coast to murder the intended target, Sullivan replied, "I got a hundred niggas, I still got my ties to the street. I got young boys who love me."
Sullivan is a sports agent with Alamo-based The Novo Agency, headed by longtime pro football agent Jeff Sperbeck. Among Novo's former clients are pro football Hall of Famers Ronnie Lott, John Elway and Jim Plunkett.
Current Novo clients include San Francisco 49ers running back LaMichael James, Oakland Raiders guard Mike Brisiel and Buffalo Bills quarterback Dennis Dixon. As a Novo associate, Sullivan represents University of Oregon cornerback Terrance Mitchell and briefly represented University of Missouri defensive end Michael Sam.
According to Sullivan's LinkedIn profile, he also works as a sports agent for Hayward-based SportsWest Football. From his LinkedIn profile entry on SportsWest Football:
In an interview with Sports Agent Blog, Sullivan said he and SportsWest principal agent Angelo Wright co represent free agent defensive end Jonathan Fanene, free agent defensive tackle Matt Toeaina, and Canadian Football League wide receiver and Oakland native Bakari Grant.
Sullivan also represents San Francisco boxer Karim "Hard Hitta" Mayfield, currently undefeated after 17 bouts in the welterweight division and set to fight a title bout in Atlantic City on Saturday.
Mayfield told SF Weekly he was shocked by the allegations against his manager and was expecting to see him Thursday at a scheduled open workout at San Francisco City Hall.
Sullivan grew up in the city's Western Addition, and received a Master's Degree in Sports Management from University of San Francisco in 2008.
He was suspended for six months in 2010 by the NFL Players Association for improperly supervising a recruiter and giving money to an unnamed college player.