By Michael IsikoffNBC News
Alex Brandon / AP file
Jerry Sandusky pauses while speaking to reporters at the Centre County Courthouse after a bail hearing on Feb. 10 in Bellefonte, Pa.
Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed documents and computer hard drives from Penn State University as part of a new criminal probe into what school officials and board members may have known about alleged child sex abuse by former football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, three sources familiar with the case tell NBC News.
Investigators are also trying to determine if Penn State board members may have made previously undisclosed payments to "third parties" relating to Sandusky, according to two of the?sources, both of whom have?direct knowledge of the subpoena.
The broad scope of the subpoena, the existence of which was confirmed by a university spokeswoman, indicates that federal agents may be investigating a potential cover-up of Sandusky's alleged abuse by top school officials, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The sources said it seeks?records -- including internal?emails -- dating to 1998 from the computers and files of three former top Penn State officials:?former President Graham Spanier, former Athletic Director Tim Curley and former Vice President Gary Schultz, who was in charge of the campus police.
All three were named in a Pennsylvania state grand jury report in November as having been told about an allegation relating to Sandusky and a young boy in the school's athletic locker room in?2002. Spanier subsequently resigned and Curley and Schultz were were?fired by the university. All?have denied any wrongdoing.?
The subpoena also seeks records?about Penn State board members and The Second Mile, the charity for troubled children that Sandusky founded, the sources said. It also asks for documents on reports about ?allegations of misconduct by staff or individuals associated with the university,? according to a statement released Friday afternoon by Penn State.
The subpoena was signed by two federal prosecutors in the office of U.S. Attorney Peter Smith in Harrisburg, Pa. on Feb. 2 and demands that all records be turned over by Feb. 29, the sources said.
Before the university released its statement, Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers confirmed the university had received the subpoena, saying, "The?university is fully cooperating with this request for information." She declined further comment.
The U.S. Attorney?s Office in Harrisburg declined to comment.
Pennsylvania state prosecutors have charged Sandusky with more than 50 counts of child sex abuse involving 10 young boys over a 15-year period. He has denied the charges and a trial has been set for May. NBC News reported in December that federal prosecutors were considering whether to open a separate probe because of allegations that Sandusky may have transported a boy who he allegedly abused across state lines -- to out of state bowl games in Tampa and San Antonio. Federal officials were also trying to determine if Sandusky used computers to communicate with or solicit his alleged victims -- another potential violation of federal law, a federal law enforcement official told NBC News.?
The confirmation of the subpoena by Penn State is the first concrete sign that the federal criminal investigation has already begun. A spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Attorney General's Office declined to comment, saying only that the office is "in close communications" with federal law enforcement officials, including the U.S. Attorney's Office in Harrisburg.
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