The Green Bay Packers are learning of some rather disturbing news regarding one of their former players. A 16-year jail sentence has been handed down to a pass catcher who was briefly on their roster.
The details of this case are rather shocking as nearly $200 million were stolen from some of the most vulnerable people in the country.
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Dec 12, 2021; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Green Bay Packers helmets on the sidelines during the game against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 12, 2021; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Green Bay Packers helmets on the sidelines during the game against the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Former Packers Pass Catcher Sentenced To Nearly 2 Decades In Jail
As a result of his involvement in a $197 million fraud scheme, a former college football standout who spent time with the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Friday.
As part of a years-long scheme, Rufus French sold patient information and shammed doctors’ orders for orthotic braces that patients did not desire or require:
“Fueled by lies, bribes, and overseas telemarketers, this corrupt scheme preyed on senior citizens and disabled veterans to flood the country with unnecessary medical devices — and then billed the taxpayer for it,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division.
“Today’s sentence makes clear that if you target America’s elderly, sick, or vulnerable — and rob America’s purse doing so — you will be targeted and brought to justice.”
The Department of Justice said French worked with overseas telemarketers that pressured elderly Americans to provide their health information and agree to accept unnecessary braces. The telemarketers would alter call recordings to make it sound like the patients agreed to the braces if they had not.
French paid fraudulent companies to get signed doctors’ orders, despite oftentimes never interacting with the patients.
Tight end Rufus French of the Mississippi Rebels runs with the football during a game against the Auburn Tigers at Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss., on Sept. 12, 1998. The Tigers defeated the Rebels 17-0. (Todd Warshaw/Allsport)
Tight end Rufus French of the Mississippi Rebels runs with the football during a game against the Auburn Tigers at Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss., on Sept. 12, 1998. The Tigers defeated the Rebels 17-0. (Todd Warshaw/Allsport)
An indictment was filed against French for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to offer, pay, solicit, and receive kickbacks.
Furthermore, he was ordered to pay approximately $111 million in restitution and forfeit approximately $17 million from bank accounts that had been seized by the government.
A two-time First-team All-SEC tight end at Ole Miss, French was also a unanimous All-American in 1998.
Although he was not drafted in the 1999 NFL Draft, he was able to play for the Seattle Seahawks for two seasons in 1999 and 2000. He also spent the 2002 season with Green Bay.
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