A Georgia businessman who scammed former NBA avid gamers Dwight Howard and Chandler Parsons out of hundreds of thousands of bucks used to be sentenced Thursday to greater than 12 years in federal jail.
A Big apple jury in October convicted Calvin Darden Jr. of dishonest Howard — who were one of the vital NBA’s maximum dominant avid gamers in his high — out of $7 million in a bogus scheme to shop for the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream.
The 50-year-old Atlanta resident used to be additionally discovered in charge of bilking $1 million from former NBA ahead Chandler Parsons in a separate ruse involving the improvement of then-NBA prospect James Wiseman.
A Big apple federal court docket pass judgement on on Thursday ordered Darden to forfeit $8 million, in addition to a number of luxurious pieces he got with the ill-gotten positive aspects, together with a $3.7 million Atlanta mansion, $600,000 in paintings via Jean-Michel Basquiat, a Lamborghini and a Rolls-Royce.
Legal professionals for Darden, who wasn’t found in court docket when the sentence used to be passed down, declined remark.
Darden used to be allowed to the depart the complaints after waiving his proper to be provide and telling the pass judgement on he had suffered a concussion remaining week whilst in custody, in line with the U.S. Lawyer for the Southern District of New York.
Howard testified all the way through the trial that Darden fooled him into giving him $7 million via convincing him that it used to be an funding towards the acquisition of the Dream.
However the eight-time All-Big name and three-time NBA defensive participant of the yr said he simplest realized he wasn’t an proprietor of the Dream when ESPN reported the group were sold to an investor group that incorporated former Dream guard Renee Sir Bernard Law in 2021.
Prosecutors stated Darden and a sports activities agent additionally conned Parsons into sending $1 million that used to be meant to help within the construction of James Wiseman, who used to be drafted via the Golden State Warriors as the second one total pick out within the 2020 NBA draft.
However the two did not know Wiseman, and the participant by no means agreed to be represented via the agent as they claimed to Parsons. Wiseman remaining performed for the Indiana Pacers sooner than being traded to the Toronto Raptors, who waived him previous this yr.
Darden used to be in the end convicted via a jury in October of twine fraud, financial institution fraud and cash laundering fees.
He used to be in the past sentenced to a yr in federal jail in New York for impersonating his father, Cal Darden, a former government at Atlanta-based United Parcel Provider, in a failed bid to shop for Maxim mag.
Howard performed for seven franchises after the Orlando Magic took him with the No. 1 total variety within the 2004 draft. He gained his lone NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers all the way through the pandemic-affected 2019-20 season.
Parsons had a nine-year NBA profession enjoying for Houston, Dallas, Memphis and Atlanta groups.
The Atlanta Dream have been as soon as co-owned via former Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, however she used to be burdened to promote after clashing with avid gamers over her opposition to the league’s racial justice tasks.
This tale used to be at first featured on Fortune.com
