Former Boston Celtics player Sebastian Telfair is making a last-ditch effort to avoid time in prison. He’s asking for a pardon from President Donald Trump.
“I know Donald Trump got some big things going on. Donald Trump might need to come holler at, give your boy a pardon so I can stay home with my babies,” Telfair said to TMZ earlier this week.
Telfair said he now faces federal charges and six months in prison after missing community service that had been part of his initial release.
Telfair was one of 20 former NBA players accused of taking part in a scheme to defraud the league’s health and benefits welfare plan. Prosecutors claimed that Telfair made $358,000 by making fraudulent healthcare claims and pocketing the money.
According to the New York Post, Telfair was originally sentenced to time served and a supervised release for three years. However, after reportedly failing to adhere to the terms of his release, Telfair has now been re-sentenced to six months in prison.
Telfair said to TMZ that the court’s ruling that he’d missed community service was a matter of “just paperwork” and that he remains active in the community. Telfair added that he plans to use his six months in prison to “get completely healthy” and write a book.
The 40-year-old ex-NBA player now hopes the president of the United States can help him out.
“Trump, go check in on my story and you’re definitely going to want to pardon me,” Telfair said to TMZ. “You’ll hold me accountable and want me to continue to go do good. But I did too good to being sending anybody to jail.”
Telfair was critical of the charges, arguing that he had earned the money and now has to “pay it back to the system.”
He also claimed that other former NBA players sentenced in the scheme should be released from prison, including former Celtics player Glen “Big Baby” Davis.
“Shout out Big Baby, who’s locked up right now. Free him. Free Terrance Williams. Free the NBA players,” Telfair said.
A first-round pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, Telfair played a total of 10 seasons in the NBA. He also played for three different teams in the Chinese Basketball Association.
After three seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, Telfair was traded to the Celtics ahead of the 2006-07 season. He played 78 games that season, averaging 6.1 points and 2.8 assists per game.
The following offseason, Telfair was dealt to the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of the trade that sent Kevin Garnett to Boston.
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