LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The self-described former escort and the former assistant coach at the center of a recruiting scandal that rocked the Louisville men's basketball team will not be criminally charged, according to a statement released Thursday by the Jefferson County, Kentucky, Commonwealth Attorney.
"A Jefferson County grand jury has declined to return an indictment against Katina Powell or Andre McGee," the Commonwealth Attorney's office said in a statement.
"In the final analysis there is not sufficient credible evidence assembled to support bringing criminal charges against these individuals," Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Wine added.
In her book, "Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen," which was published in October 2015, Powell detailed nearly two dozen parties that featured dancers performing sex acts for Cardinals recruits and players from 2010 to 2014 inside Billy Minardi Hall, the on-campus dorm for athletes and other students. Shortly after the book's release, Powell told ESPN that McGee arranged the parties and paid her $10,000 for supplying the dancers, many of whom had sex with recruits in exchange for cash paid by McGee.
Thursday's statement, which came after a review by three separate prosecutors, suggests there was scant evidence to prove a criminal case against Powell or McGee.
"Upon publication of the book, law enforcement authorities were originally concerned that Powell used under-aged girls to entertain the recruits. Once it was determined that no under-aged girls were used, the investigation focused on Prostitution, Unlawful Transactions with a Minor, and other possible criminal charges," the attorney's office said in a statement. "During the investigation, all of the women identified in the book denied having sexual contact with any of the recruits or receiving payment for sex acts. Interviews with recruits revealed that there were instances of sexual contact with unknown women. However, none of the recruits were able to confirm any payments had been made to the women by McGee or anyone else. Nor could the recruits positively identify any of the women with whom they had sexual contact."
When reached by ESPN on Thursday, Powell's attorney, Larry Wilder, said: "I talked to Miss Powell, and she's ecstatic that this chapter of this book is closed for now."
The most important part of the Commonwealth Attorney's statement, Wilder said, is that "Miss Powell did not engage in prostituting her daughters."
In her book, Powell mentioned that her youngest daughters, ages 15 and 17 at the time, attended the parties where strippers and escorts entertained recruits.
Wilder noted that Powell and McGee could still be indicted at a future date but added that "the evidence is not going to change, so it would seem it would be a waste of court time to go through the grand jury process again."
Thursday's decision should have no bearing on the pending NCAA investigation into recruiting violations at Louisville, Wilder said.
Unlike a criminal proceeding, where prosecutors must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, NCAA proceedings are based on the weight of the evidence.
"The record in the NCAA investigation is closed," Wilder said. "It can't be opened in any way to include information from grand jury proceedings."
The NCAA declined comment to ESPN regarding Thursday's court ruling.
The NCAA's Committee on Infractions has yet to make its final ruling on penalties against Louisville and Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino.
In February 2016, the university acknowledged NCAA violations had occurred in its men's basketball program and self-imposed a postseason ban and scholarship reductions.
Pitino has maintained from the outset that he had no knowledge of the parties inside Minardi Hall. In January, in its response to the NCAA, Louisville maintained Pitino had adequately monitored the basketball program and McGee.
"The university believes that Coach Pitino fostered a culture of NCAA compliance within the basketball program and exercised appropriate supervisory oversight of McGee," the school said at the time.
Louisville made its final case to the NCAA in late April, and a decision from the enforcement staff is expected within a month.
John Barr is a reporter in ESPN's Enterprise Unit.