Former NFL running back sentenced for role in health care fraud
Former National Soccer League (NFL) operating back again Clinton Portis has been sentenced to provide 6 months in prison and 6 months of house detention following pleading responsible to conspiracy to dedicate overall health treatment fraud, Usa Right now described.
Portis signed a plea arrangement in September, admitting to collaborating in a plan to defraud a health care application for retired NFL players and their households by submitting phony reimbursement promises, according to a assertion from the Section of Justice (DOJ). At the time, 14 other players had also pleaded responsible in relationship with the scheme.
Portis entered his responsible plea just days soon after his legal demo in the U.S. District Courtroom for the Jap District of Kentucky concluded with the jury declaring they could not access a verdict, according to Usa Right now.
According to his plea arrangement, Portis admitted to collaborating in a nationwide scheme with other former NFL gamers the place they submitted reimbursement promises underneath the Gene Upshaw NFL Participant Wellbeing Reimbursement Account Prepare, in accordance to United states of america Now.
The Gene Upshaw NFL Player Overall health Reimbursement Account Approach, which was set up by means of the league’s 2006 collective bargaining arrangement, allows previous players to request tax-totally free reimbursement for out-of-pocket healthcare expenses that are not included by insurance.
According to the DOJ, Portis authorized former teammate Robert McCune to submit fraudulent claims on his behalf for an oxygen chamber and a cryotherapy sauna.
Portis, 40, obtained $99,264 in advantages from the league’s approach but hardly ever procured the machines, the DOJ claimed.
The prices against Portis carried a most sentence of 10 yrs in prison.
According to an ESPN report, the DOJ explained it sought a longer sentence in the situation in the advised 10 to 16 thirty day period array since Portis preserved that he was not responsible until he faced a retrial adhering to the hung jury.
The DOJ also pointed out that Portis under no circumstances compensated back again the dollars he experienced acquired as a result of his reimbursement claims to the wellbeing treatment strategy till shortly before his sentencing, ESPN noted.
Portis performed for the Washington Football Group and the Denver Broncos all through his nine-year skilled job, collaborating in two Pro Bowls and getting a enthusiast favorite for his impersonations of a variety of characters throughout media interviews.
The Charlotte Observer described that the jogging back’s lawyers urged U.S. District Decide Karen Caldwell to adhere to her previously choices in the scenario and sentence Portis to time served, working with previous New Orleans Saints vast receiver Joe Horn’s November sentencing as an illustration.
Portis, Horn and McCune, together with Carlos Rogers, Correll Buckhalter, Donald “Reche” Caldwell, Anthony Montgomery and Darrell Reid, have all pleaded guilty to their roles in the plan, United states of america Nowadays reported.
Portis is expected to report to prison in March.
