Former Portland Trail Blazers guard Sebsastian Telfair is getting prison time for his role in defrauding the NBA Health and Welfare Benefit Plan. Telfair was originally sentenced in 2019 for bilking the system out of $358,000 via fraudulent claims. He received 3.5 years of supervised release. Sportico is reporting that Telfair failed to meet the conditions of his probation: community service, meeting regularly with a probation officer and working to obtain employment. Accordingly U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni decreed that Telfair would serve six months in prison, beginning in August.
In a hearing on Thursday, Telfair, according to Law360, told Caproni that “a lot of things” were “stacked against” him, and that he sometimes gets “stuck in the mud.” Telfair apologized and acknowledged he missed appointments with his probation officer. But he insisted he was trying to improve as a person, including by partaking in training so he could land a job in construction.
Caproni wasn’t persuaded, saying Telfair had done “absolutely nothing” to get a job. She bluntly told him, “You thumbed your nose at your probation officer and me over and over.” The judge, Law360 noted, also said Telfair had only submitted small dollar amounts in restitution and still owes a sizable figure.
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The Trail Blazers drafted Telfair 13th overall in the 2004 NBA Draft. He played two seasons for the team over the course of a ten-year NBA career which included stops in Minnesota, Phoenix, Boston, Oklahoma City, Cleveland, Toronto, and with the Los Angeles Clippers.