Former East St. Louis star among ex-NBA players charged in $4M fraud scheme
Former East. St. Louis High School star Darius Miles is one of 18 former NBA players who have been charged with defrauding the league’s health and welfare benefit plan out of about $4 million, according to an indictment Thursday in New York.
Federal prosecutors planned a news conference to describe the case that was brought in Manhattan federal court. By late morning, 16 of the defendants were in custody, authorities said.
According to the indictment, the AP reported, the ex-players engaged in a widespread scheme to defraud the plan by submitting false and fraudulent claims to get reimbursed for medical and dental expenses that were never actually incurred.
The 18 players were among 19 individuals charged in the indictment. It said the scheme was carried out from at least 2017 to 2020, when the plan received false claims totaling about $3.9 million. Of that, the defendants received about $2.5 million in fraudulent proceeds.
A request for comment to the league wasn’t immediately returned.
Besides Miles, among those charged was Anthony Allen, a six-time All-Defensive team selection and a member of the 2008 champion Boston Celtics. His wife was also indicted.
For the most part, though, the ex-players charged had journeyman careers playing for several different teams and never reached anywhere close to the enormous stardom or salary that top players command.
The AP reported those charged also included four NBA champions. Ronald Glen Davis, along with Allen, was part of that 2008 title team in Boston. Shannon Brown won two championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, and Melvin Ely won a title with San Antonio in 2007.
Anthony Wroten, Ruben Patterson and Miles were the only players charged who averaged double figures for their NBA career.
Miles averaged 10.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game during his eight-year NBA career. Wroten averaged 11.1 points in 145 career games. Patterson averaged 10.7 points per game with six different teams.
Darius Miles’ playing career
The Los Angeles Clippers drafted the 6-foot-9 former Flyers star straight out of East St. Louis Senior High School with the 3rd overall pick in the 2000 NBA draft.
He was a first-team NBA All-Rookie in 2001, a first for a prep-to-pro player. Miles played with the Clippers from 2000-02, the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2002-04, the Portland Trailblazers from 2004-06 and the Memphis Grizzlies from 2008-09.
As a junior at East St. Louis, Miles averaged 20 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists per game while leading the Flyers to the IHSA Class AA state quarterfinals. During his senior year, Miles averaged 22.1 points, 12.1 rebounds, 7.4 blocks and 3.4 assists a game, while shooting 66.6% from the field in helping the Flyers to a third place finish at state.
Miles was named Illinois Mr. Basketball in 2000.
Previous legal troubles
On Aug. 3, 2011, Miles was arrested in Lambert-St. Louis International Airport for carrying a loaded gun.
According to an article from the Belleville News-Democrat, it was unclear whether the loaded gun was found inside luggage or whether Miles had been carrying the weapon. The weapon was discovered at the Concourse A checkpoint. Authorities did not say what type of gun was seized, the News-Democrat article stated.
Previously, Miles was arrested in 2009 in Fairview Heights for possession of a small amount of marijuana and driving on a suspended license. He had to sit out 10 games in 2008-09 for violating the NBA’s substance abuse policy while with the Grizzlies.
Personal life
After making nearly $62 million in his NBA career, Miles filed for bankruptcy Sept. 18, 2016. In October 2018, Miles addressed mental health issues he had battled after his career in a Players’ Tribune article.
Since February 2019 he has co-hosted The Knuckleheads podcast with Quentin Richardson associated with The Players’ Tribune, a show where they interview former and current professional basketball players from the perspective of ex-NBA players.
This story was originally published October 7, 2021 at 12:18 PM.