Clinton Portis criminal trial to begin on Monday
August 29, 2021
by Steve Thomas
Washington Redskins star running back Clinton Portis was charged along with several other former NFL players, including former Redskins Robert McCune and Carlos Rogers, by the federal government back in 2019 with medical insurance fraud dating back to 2017 and 2018. The Hog Sty covered these charges in detail here. In summary, Portis, McCune, Rogers, and several others were accused of defrauding the NFL’s Gene Upshaw NFL Player Reimbursement Account Plan by submitting falsified prescriptions from doctors and purchase invoices for a variety of expensive medical equipment to the NFL’s plan administrator, CIGNA Healthcare, in order to receive cash reimbursements, with such reimbursements then allegedly distributed to other scheme participants in the form of bribes and kickbacks.
McCune, the alleged ringleader, was charged with 9 separate counts, with Portis charged with 3. Rogers was named in a separate indictment and charged with 2 counts. Since the charges were filed, Rogers pled guilty back in December, 2020, and was sentenced to time served and fined $85,000 in restitution. McCune pled guilty last week and awaits sentencing. Former Texans safety Ceadris Brown was sentenced in June, 2020, to a year in prison and fined $85,000 in restitution. Most other players accused in this scheme have also recently pled guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced in October, including John Eubanks, Antwan Odom, James Butler, Anthony Montgomery, Frederick Bennett, Darrel Reid, Etric Pruitt, and Correll Buckhalter.
Portis and former Kansas City Chief Tamarick Vanover now stand alone and will be tried in front of a jury beginning tomorrow, Monday, August 30, in federal court in Lexington, Kentucky. If convicted of all charges and sentenced to the maximum sentences for all charges and ordered to serve the sentences consecutively – which is extremely unlikely – Portis could face 50 years in federal prison.
Portis also separately faces charges of unpaid child support.
The Hog Sty will keep you informed about the progress of the case.