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  • RobbobertoBuii@alien.topBtoNBA - Main@nba.space•Former NBA Player Darius Miles Avoids Prison in League Health-Care Plan Fraud CaseEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    from the article:

    Miles, 42, was given three years’ probation on Monday by US District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan. He pleaded guilty in June and had faced a possible sentence of around two years in prison. The scheme’s ringleader, Terrence Williams, who was the 11th overall pick in the 2009 draft, was given a 10-year prison term in August.

    Caproni called Miles a “poster child” for why drafting players out of high school “was a bad idea,” as he clearly had a “substantial need to learn how to handle money.” Though she said his crime was a serious one, the judge gave consideration to his charitable work in recent years.

    Prosecutors had sought a punishment below federal guidelines, which called for Miles to serve 21 to 27 months in prison. Lawyers for Miles had asked Caproni to spare him from prison time, saying his personal history and characteristics show “remarkable rehabilitation and an uncommon capacity to do good.”

    They said the cancer death of his mother, who raised him as a single working parent in East St. Louis, Illinois, sent him into a “deep depression” and a series of “misguided decisions” that led to him declaring personal bankruptcy. It was during this “period of vulnerability and financial anxiety” that he agreed to submit false invoices to the plan, Miles’s lawyers said.

    Miles later managed to “pull himself back from the brink” with the help of a close friend and former teammate, starting a second career in sports media and using his platform to “shine a spotlight on the mental health and financial struggles of professional athletes.”

    Miles now co-hosts a podcast, Knuckleheads, with high school friend and former Clippers teammate Quentin Richardson, which features unvarnished conversations with other NBA players.

    At his sentencing, Miles apologized to the NBA and its past and present players. He thanked the league for its continuing support.

    “I was also very lucky,” he said. “I am still lucky.”

    The case is US v. Williams, 21-cr-00603, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).