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Former NFL and Clemson player John Leake was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for running a Ponzi scheme in which he defrauded victims out of more than $5 million. Leake played linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons and the Green Bay Packers in the NFL after signing as an undrafted free agent with the Tennessee Titans in 2004.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, John Leake lied to investors, telling them that “he was involved in lucrative luxury real estate investments, gold mines in Alaska and Ghana, and other ventures, and promising them high rates of return on their investments.”
Leake fraudulently received approximately $8,129,450 from six victims. They ended up losing approximately $5,314,059.
“Leake knew these investment opportunities often were fabricated and non-existent and were devised by Leake to defraud victims and trick them into giving him money,” a U.S Department of Justice (DOJ) press release stated. “Leake duped his victims by lying that he had invested large amounts of his own money in the purported business ventures he promoted. Leake rarely invested his own money into them.
“He also fraudulently offered to personally guarantee return of the victims’ loans and provided them promissory notes purporting to memorialize his promise to repay the victims at a fixed rate of interest. Leake’s lies to his victims included his claims that his business ventures were successful, and he had accumulated substantial personal assets and income. In fact, Leake lacked sufficient personal assets and income to repay his victims.”
John Leake, according to the DOJ, “used some of the funds to pay his own personal expenses, including credit card bills, car payments, rent, and gambling expenses.”
In addition to the two-and-a-half years in prison, Leake, 43, was also ordered to pay the $5,314,059 back in restitution by United States District Judge John F. Walter. Leake pleaded guilty in September 2024 to one count of wire fraud and one count of transactional money laundering.
John Leake was named to the list of preseason Butkus Award candidates in 2003 after recording 169 tackles his junior season at Clemson, fourth most in the nation. He recorded a total of 17 tackles over two seasons in the NFL.