The Miami Dolphins believe they might've finally cracked the mystery of who was behind the draft night hacking of Laremy Tunsil's social media accounts.
According to the Palm Beach Post, the team thinks that a former financial advisor, who worked for Tunsil, was the one who leaked the bong video onto Tunsil's Twitter page. Although the Post didn't reveal the name of the financial advisor, it did note that the man was fired by Tunsil sometime before the NFL Draft.
Tunsil's lawyer, Steve Farese, didn't confirm that a former financial adviser was the hacker, but he did rule out the suspect who everyone originally pointed to: Tunsil's stepdad.
"Initially, that would be the low-hanging fruit. It was so counterintuitive, if that were the case, it wouldn't make any sense," Farese said in an interview with SiriusXM's Mad Dog Sports Radio. "Now I've drifted away from those thoughts and don't believe he had anything to do with it."
After the draft, Tunsil's stepdad, Lindsey Miller, adamantly denied that he was involved in the hacking.
As for the report that a former financial advisor was behind the hacking?
"There's rumors out there about some financial agent, but that's only something I read, and until we get to the facts of the situation, who can say?" Farese said. "I think in the next week or so, we'll find out for sure who the culprit is."
After the bong video was released, Tunsil's stock took a huge hit. Multiple reports have said that the Ravens were going to draft Tunsil with the sixth overall pick, but the team ended up passing on him after the video came out.
Tunsil ended up going 13th overall to the Dolphins, a seven-spot drop that could end up costing him as much as $8.03 million over the life of his rookie deal.
Although Tunsil originally said that he wouldn't press any charges against the hacker, it appears that he's now at least open to the idea of pursuing his legal options.
"First, you start with who's responsible for this, and then you want to make a decision about whether or not you have to go after them in [a civil suit], and that's something my client will have to decide," Farese said.
Tunsil could potentially file a civil suit because of the amount of money the hacker cost him when he fell seven spots in the draft. If Tunsil were to press charges, the hacker could also face up to five years in prison for violating the Stored Communications Act, as outlined here by Texas attorney Travis Crabtree.
The good news for Tunsil is that he reportedly won't be put in the NFL's substance abuse program, which means he won't be subjected to multiple monthly drug tests by the league.
