Tressel was first notified of the arrangement in April 2010 when he received several e-mails from Chris Cicero, a local attorney and former Ohio State walk-on football player. Tressel never forwarded the e-mails, nor the information contained in them about potential violations, to his school's compliance office or the NCAA. Although Tressel had held the position of Athletic Director at Youngstown State, Tressel's excuse was that he did not know whom to contact when he learned of the alleged violations. Tressel also later claimed not to have acted because of concerns about the confidentiality of the information, yet he immediately forwarded the first e-mail to Terrelle Pryor's mentor.