A former football star living near Charlotte faces jail in NFL health care fraud case
The arc of Clinton Portis’ football career has been steep.
In 2004, the current resident of Fort Mill, South Carolina, became the highest-paid running back in NFL history when he signed an eight-year, $50.5 million contract that included $17 million in combined signing and option bonuses. Over his nine-year playing career, Portis earned more than $43 million, according to Spotrac.
But by the time Portis retired in 2012, bad investments, lavish spending habits and questionable moves by his agents left him in bankruptcy, according to Sports Illustrated. In August, Portis was arrested in Florida on charges of owing almost $150,000 in child support.
Now the former University of Miami great faces prison, one of 15 retired NFL players accused of defrauding the league’s health care benefits program of $2.5 million in 2017-18.
The list of defendants include several players who, like Portis, once were among their sport’s biggest names, including Joe Horn, a former All-Pro receiver for the New Orleans Saints now living in Charlotte.
Horn, whose son Jaycee was the Carolina Panthers’ top pick in the 2021 NFL draft, pleaded guilty in December 2019 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud by seeking improper reimbursements from the Gene Upshaw NFL Player Health Reimbursement Account Plan. Horn will be sentenced next month.
Portis, 40, was one of the last of the indicted players to accept a deal with prosecutors. He and Tamarick Vanover, a former Florida State Seminole who played for the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers, both pleaded guilty on Tuesday — two days after their trial on medical fraud charges ended in a hung jury on several counts against Vanover.
Former NFL linebacker Robert McCune, the alleged mastermind of the conspiracy, pleaded guilty last month on the second day of the trial.
Federal prosecutors in Kentucky, who have handled the case, say Portis confessed to claiming reimbursement from the Upshaw account for more than $99,000 in medical equipment he never purchased.
Portis’ conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison. He must also make full restitution. He is scheduled to be sentenced in early January.
McCune, a former University of Louisville captain who played for four NFL teams and who is accused of recruiting other players to the scheme, faces the longest prison stay.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, along with 13 counts of health care fraud, 11 counts of wire fraud, and three counts of aggravated identity theft.
He will be sentenced in November.
According to court filings, the other former players awaiting sentencing include:
▪ Donald “Reche” Caldwell, who died in June 2020.
The investigation of the fraud involved FBI offices from around the country, including agents from the Columbia office.
This story was originally published September 7, 2021 at 6:16 PM.
