LEXINGTON, Ky. — With three recent pleas, all 15 former National Football League players charged with health care fraud in Kentucky have admitted guilt.
Clinton Portis and Tamarick Vanover pleaded guilty Sept. 3 to one conspiracy charge each, admitting they took part in a scheme to get reimbursements for expensive medical equipment they didn’t actually buy or receive.
Robert McCune pleaded guilty on Aug. 24 to conspiracy and other charges. Twelve other former players had pleaded guilty earlier.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced the investigation of former NFL players in December 2019. The initial release involved 12 players, but others were charged later.
Officials said players had submitted nearly $4 million in fraudulent claims between June 2017 and December 2018 seeking reimbursement from a fund set up to help former players pay out-of-pocket medical costs.
Former players created fake invoices and other documents to support the claims, with some paying kickbacks to leaders in the scheme to pursue claims for them, according to court records.
None of the players charged lived in Kentucky. The charges were handled here because because Cigna, the company that handled claims for the NFL plan, processed them through a center in Lexington.
That allowed prosecutors to consolidate the cases in one place instead of filing cases around the country.
One document in the case said that Cigna identified more than 70 former NFL players who submitted fraudulent claims, but that some were allowed to repay the money without being charged.
Portis, a Pro Bowl running back who played for Denver and Washington, admitted working with McCune to submit two fake claims in 2018, one of $44,732 for an oxygen chamber and the other for $54,532 for a cryosauna.
Portis “knew the claims McCune submitted on his behalf were false and fraudulent or was aware of a high probability that the claims McCune submitted on his behalf were false and fraudulent and deliberately ignored that fact,” his plea agreement said.
Vanover, a receiver who played for the Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers, admitted he recruited other players into the scheme and gathered personal information from them to give to Donald “Reche” Caldwell to use in fraudulent claims.
His plea agreement covered three claims totaling $159,510.
Portis, 40, of Fort Mill, S.C., and Vanover, 47, of Tallahassee, Fla., went to trial on the charges against them but that ended in a mistrial on Sept. 1.
Jurors had voted to convict Vanover on conspiracy, health fraud and wire fraud charges but could not agree on a verdict on others, and deadlocked on all the charges against Portis, according to the court record.
After U.S. District Judge Karen K. Caldwell scheduled another trial, Portis and Vanover pleaded guilty.
They face a maximum of 10 years in prison, though federal sentencing guidelines will likely call for lesser sentences.
Court records indicate that McCune, a linebacker who played at the University of Louisville before stints in the NFL at Washington, Miami and Baltimore, was a leader in the scheme, submitting false claims and then impersonating other players in calls to the insurance company to check the status of payments.
McCune, 40, pleaded guilty to more than 20 counts, including conspiracy, health care fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
The most serious charges against him carry maximum sentences of 20 years in prison.
The other players convicted in the case are John Eubanks, Ceandris Brown, James Butler, Fredrick Bennett, Etric Pruitt, Antwan Odom, Anthony Montgomery, Darrell Reid, Correll Buckhalter, Carlos Rogers, Joe Horn and Donald “Reche” Caldwell.
Only Brown and Rogers have been sentenced.
Caldwell sentenced Brown to one year and one day in prison and ordered him to pay $84,777 in restitution, and sentenced Rogers to 180 days on home detention, 400 hours of community service and a $10,000 fine.
Donald Caldwell, who played for the San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots, was shot and killed in an apparent robbery attempt before he was sentenced.
Most of the other players are scheduled to be sentenced next month, though McCune is to be sentenced in November and Portis and Vanover in January.
