‘The lure of easy money.’ Former NFL players get prison time for fraud case.

Jeremy Chisenhall, Lexington Herald-Leader

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Three former NFL players received prison sentences Tuesday in Lexington federal court after they helped to file nearly $4 million in bogus claims in a health care fraud scheme.

John Eubanks was sentenced to a year and a half in prison, Etric Pruitt was sentenced to three months and James Butler was sentenced to two months. The three former NFL players were among the 15 who have pleaded guilty in the health care scheme. Each player also has to pay at least tens of thousands of dollars in restitution.

Eubanks played for the franchise now named the Washington Football Team. Pruitt played for the Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks and Detroit Lions. Butler played for the New York Giants and St. Louis Rams.

The players got limited prison time after admitting their guilt and telling U.S. District Judge Karen K. Caldwell Tuesday they had improved their lives and learned from their mistakes. Caldwell imposed prison sentences on all three to “send a message of general deterrence.”

“The lure of easy money gets a lot of people into trouble,” Caldwell said.

All three players had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud, according to court records.

The bogus claims were made to reimburse fraudulent out-of-pocket medical expenses. The NFL has a Player Health Reimbursement Account Plan that helps retired players pay for medical expenses up to $350,000, according to court records. Players took advantage of that fund to get reimbursed.

“Rather than using the plan as intended — to pay for legitimate, out-of-pocket medical expenses incurred in retirement — the defendants joined a conspiracy devised by defendant Robert McCune to extract money from the plan using bogus claims for nonexistent medical equipment,” prosecutors wrote in court records.

Eubanks didn’t play in the NFL long enough to qualify for the health care reimbursements. But his role in the scheme was to obtain information from players who did qualify so that fraudulent claims could be made in their names, according to court records.

The players who qualified would receive checks from the bogus claims and send kickbacks to Eubanks. Eubanks sent the money to Robert McCune, another former NFL player who organized the scheme. He has also pleaded guilty.

None of the players charged lived in Kentucky. The charges were addressed in Lexington because Cigna, the company that handled claims for the NFL plan, processed them through a center in Lexington.

Players asked for lesser sentences, house arrest or probation

All three players sentenced on Tuesday had asked the court for less severe punishments. Eubanks could have received 24 to 30 months in prison, Butler 10 to 16 months and Pruitt eight to 14 months, according to sentencing guidelines.

Eubanks’ attorney said Eubanks could miss senior year and high school graduation for two of his four children if he was given a lengthy prison sentence. Eubanks, who is now a teacher and high school football coach in Mississippi, vouched for himself in court Tuesday.

“I’m not a man of many regrets, but I do regret this happening,” he said. He further called it a “stupid mistake.”

Butler and his attorney asked for him to be placed on house arrest instead of in a prison cell. Butler said his life was “crashing” when he decided to be part of the fraud, which was the “worst decision of my life.”

“I didn’t even think of the severity of what I was doing at the moment,” Butler said in court.

Butler said he was proud of his accomplishments on the field, in the community and as a family man before his conviction. He said he wanted to continue to improve himself and was working in behavioral health to try to help others.

Pruitt and his attorney asked the court to grant him probation. Pruitt in court apologized for his involvement in the scheme. He said he took pride in his family name and wanted to rectify what he’d done wrong.

Pruitt’s attorney, William Swinford, said Pruitt was “caught up” in the scheme because he was misled by others involved.

“He got on board early in this case and indicated to me that he wants to plead guilty and accept responsibility,” Swinford said in court.

Prosecutors argued in all three sentencing hearings that they understood the players had worked to make up for what they did, but their scheme was serious and needed to have just punishment.

“Health care fraud has significant consequences for society at large,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Smith.

Caldwell told each player she could see they were trying to move on from their mistakes, but she said they had to face punishment to keep others from committing the same crimes.

Caldwell also said the fraud may have seemed harmless, but the players were stealing from other former NFL players who needed that money after they “battered their bodies” for the good of the sport.

Each player was permitted to self-report to prison facilities selected by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Caldwell told each player to report for their sentences in December.

Convicted players have to pay for their parts in fraud scheme

Eubanks’ role in the scheme caused the players’ health fund to lose more than $500,000, according to court records. He was ordered to pay restitution on that amount. He will split the cost with other players involved in the scheme.

Eubanks has to help pay that money back even though he only made $22,282 in kickbacks for recruiting other players to participate in the fraud, according to court records. His recruitment of other players led to the $500,000-plus theft, which made him partially liable for that amount, Caldwell ruled.

There were three bogus expense claims made in Butler’s name for medical equipment he never actually purchased or used, according to court records. The claims totaled $119,746.

Butler was ordered to pay that amount in restitution, though he will split that cost with McCune, according to prosecutors.

Pruitt filed two bogus claims for a total of $64,719, according to court records. He paid McCune about $10,500 in kickbacks on those claims. Pruitt will have to pay restitution of $64,719, but he’ll split the cost with Eubanks and McCune, according to prosecutors.

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