KNOXVILLE – A report from the state comptroller’s office addressed to University of Tennessee administrators on Monday details how a former Tennessee football support staff employee misused cash advances that were intended to be spent on things like meals for the football team.
Chris Spognardi, 32, was the director of football operations under former Tennessee coach Butch Jones until 2016. Spognardi plead guilty last week to a charge of official misconduct in Knox County Criminal Court.
The comptroller’s investigation revealed that Spognardi “provided fabricated or altered documentation to account for at least $14,085 in travel-related cash advances entrusted to him by the UT Athletics Department” between September 2015 and January 2016.
One example the investigation highlighted shows two invoices from a barbecue restaurant in Columbia, Missouri that catered a meal for the football team. Spognardi had been provided a cash advance that covered the meal, and the invoice he later provided showed the catered meal cost $2,721.60.
But a copy of the authentic invoice published in the comptroller’s investigation showed that the total bill was just $2,071.60.