Did Josh Pastner downplay the recent violations by Josh Okogie and Tadric Jackson?

Keeping up with the "there's no such thing as good news in the preseason" theme, Georgia Tech is back in the news.

It's reported that Josh Pastner recently downplayed the recent violations that have resulted in the indefinite suspensions of Josh Okogie and Tadric Jackson.  In the CBS article, Gary Parrish talked to Ron Bell, who claims he was the person that provided the benefits to Jackson and Okogie.  The problem is that the school's reported amounts received by the players don't add up to the amounts that Bell claimed to give the players.

According to the school, Jackson accepted benefits totaling less than $525 while Okogie accepted benefits totaling less than $750. Bell turned over documents to CBS Sports that show he spent $233.40 on a plane ticket for Okogie, sent him three pairs of shoes totaling around $444 and ordered him two shirts totaling $56. Bell also provided CBS Sports with documents that show he spent $233.40 on a plane ticket for Jackson, sent him two pairs of shoes totaling around $271 and ordered him Knicks apparel worth $80. Those documents add up to around the estimates Georgia Tech self-reported, and any incongruities could be chalked up to estimation differences, which are allowable by NCAA rules.

That's not all though, as Bell also claimed to give $500 in groceries, another $120 for a meal in Atlanta, another flight purchased, among other items.  Bell, a recovering addict, is seemingly providing this information after a falling out in the relationship that he had with Pastner.   What credibility does that give him?   According to Bell, Pastner questioned the same thing.

"And basically what [Pastner] told me is, 'Nobody is going to believe you because you were in prison, and I've never been to prison, and I have a great reputation, and I don't cheat,'" Bell said. "And I said, 'You don't cheat?' Yes, you do. Yes, you do.'"

There is a ton of detail in the CBS article, so definitely check it out.  We'll see what becomes of this for Georgia Tech and Josh Pastner.