A federal court judge in Indiana has indicted an advisor for wire fraud and other charges involved with taking $4.5 million from Cory Redding, who played with the Indianapolis Colts and other professional football teams from 2003 to 2015. (The court did not identify the NFL defensive player in its documents, but the Indianapolis Star did.)
On Friday, U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler announced charges against Kenneth Ray Cleveland, 63, of Agoura Hills, California, for the alleged fraud scheme. The charges against Cleveland, who is no longer registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, include seven counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering.
The charges were brought after the FBI carried out an investigation of the matter. If Cleveland is found guilty, he faces maximum sentences of 10 to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
"People place great trust in those who help manage and invest their hard-earned money," said Minkler, in a statement. "Exploiting that trust for personal gain through lies and deception is a crime that this office takes very seriously."
According to the indictment, Cleveland worked as Redding's advisor after the victim joined the Detroit Lions in 2003, after playing for the University of Texas-Austin. At the time, Cleveland was registered as an agent of Cleveland Financial Securities Corp of California.
The then-advisor allegedly promised to invest the NFL player's money in "conservative investments that would yield a significant amount of 'interest' every month without ever depleting the principal," according to Minkler's office.
