Gary Stern, a Chicago lawyer who used a tax credit scheme to defraud several NFL players, including Ray Lewis, will get 18 months in jail for the scheme. Stern’s actions ruined the finances of a former New England Patriots player so badly that the man claims he can’t even lease a vehicle.
The Chicago Tribune reports:
Former NFL linebacker Adalius Thomas made a lot of money over the course of his playing career, signing a five-year, $35 million contract in 2007 that at the time made him the highest-priced free agent in New England Patriots’ history.
But in a courtroom in Chicago on Wednesday, the Super Bowl XXXV champ told a federal judge his credit has been so ruined by a tax fraud scheme orchestrated by then-Chicago attorney Gary Stern that he can’t even get a lease on a car.
“I can’t go and say, ‘I’m a good person, can you excuse this?’ ” said the 6-foot-2, 270-pound Thomas, who told a judge that Stern’s scheme to invest money he earned on the gridiron in fraudulent tax credits has led to a nearly $1 million hit from the Internal Revenue Service, money he’s still paying back.
As the Tribune adds in its report, Stern was hit with an 18-month sentence by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber. The prosecutors in the case initially wanted Stern to serve up to six years behind bars. Stern employed a renewable energy tax credit scheme, fleecing the IRS and players out of millions.
Stern apologized for his actions, attempting to do so with Thomas who already vacated the courtroom. Along with Thomas and the aforementioned Lewis, 20 other current and former NFL players, including Terrell Owens, were caught up in the scheme.
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