Clinton Portis pleads guilty
September 7, 2021
by Steve Thomas
The saga of the criminal fraud case against former Redskins running back Clinton Portis came to an end on Tuesday, with Portis pleading guilty in a plea bargain to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud in federal court in Kentucky. This plea came after a jury deadlocked during deliberations last week after the close of the trial of Portis and fellow former NFL player Tamarick Vanover, who also pled guilty. Sentencing was set for January. Portis and Vanover agreed to make full restitution.
The Hog Sty previously covered the allegations against Portis in detail, which can be found here. In summary, Portis was one of 15 NFL players who were charged with multiple crimes related to a scheme to defraud the Gene Upshaw NFL Player Reimbursement Account Plan, which was managed by Cigna Healthcare. All of the other defendants, including the alleged ringleader, former Redskins linebacker Robert McCune, had previously pled guilty, with only Portis and Vanover choosing to go to trial.
After the Portis and Vanover jury deadlocked last week, the Court ordered trial to begin again yesterday. Portis and Vanover then elected to plead guilty in lieu of a second trial.
The government alleged that the 15 defendants defrauded a total of $3.9M, with the allegations against Portis amounting to $99,264, and $159,510 being charged to Vanover. Portis now faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison, although the length of his sentence will not be known until January.
Portis’ defense team included the Baker Botts law firm, which is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with offices around the world. It is one of the largest and most expensive law firms in the country, so Portis’ legal fees are almost assuredly larger than the amount he allegedly earned in the fraud scheme.
Portis additionally faces a warrant for his arrest in Alachua County, Florida, over charges that he failed to make any of his court-ordered child support payments of $1,937 per month for a child born in March, 2015, for a total of $147,962.49. The court ordered him to appear in court by August 6, which Portis failed to do, generating the arrest warrant.
Portis earned over $43M in his nine year NFL career. He is Washington’s second all-time leading rusher.