Displaying items by tag: Embezzlement

Former Cleveland Brown Reggie Rucker was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison Wednesday for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars through a charity fund he helped manage. 

Details of the case reveal that Rucker used money intended for the Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance and Amer-I-Can foundations to pay off gambling debts, his mortgage, and other personal expenses. 

Earlier in 2016 Rucker admitted to the fraud in federal court, but sentencing was delayed while the former NFL wide receiver underwent tests to determine whether or not past concussions played a factor in his decision making abilities. On Wednesday, Federal Court Judge Dan Polster handed down the sentence, and Rucker's attorney requested the sentence be carried out at the federal facility in Morgantown, West Virginia. He will remain free for about 30 days and then will begin his sentence. In addition, Rucker was ordered to pay more than $110,000 in restitution. 

Reggie Rucker played for the Cleveland Browns from 1975 through 1981. 

Former Cleveland Browns player Reggie Rucker has entered a guilty plea to charges of embezzling money from a non-profit charity.

Cleveland.com reports that Rucker's plea admitting taking money from the Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance comes from a deal with federal prosecutors, and that Rucker likely will be sent to prison.

The agreement involves Rucker asking for a prison sentence between 21 and 27 months. He'll be sentenced in May.

Prosecutors say Rucker used the bank accounts of non-profit agencies for his own use, to cover thousands of dollars of personal expenses and gambling debt, while agency workers weren't being paid for months.

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