Getty Image
Remember the name Royce White?
You’d be excused if you didn’t. White is a former college basketball star for Iowa State who the Houston Rockets made the 16th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. But he never played in a game for the Rockets and played just three NBA games in total (all for the Sacramento Kings) due, in part, to a fear of flying.
These days, White is playing in the Big3 league and is a failed political candidate. But it gets worse, The Daily Beast reports White was caught spending thousands of dollars in campaign funds at strip clubs and on luxury items.
Here’s our original report on White’s spending. @CampaignLegal filed a complaint alleging tens of thousands of dollars in illegal personal use. White has denied wrongdoing. https://t.co/qu3j5AbSvt
— Roger Sollenberger (@SollenbergerRC) July 15, 2024
“At five in the morning one week after Republican Royce White lost his 2022 Minnesota congressional primary, his campaign shelled out more than $1,200 in donor funds to a vendor 1,800 miles away not typically associated with political expenses—an all-nude strip club in Miami, Florida, called ‘Gold Rush Cabaret,'” the report states. “That is just one among dozens of outlandish but previously unreported payments that The Daily Beast has identified from White’s 2022 Federal Election Commission filings. Several campaign finance experts characterized some of the expenses as potentially illegal spending.”
NBA Draft Bust Royce White Could Go To Jail For Improper Campaign Spending
White is long past any hopes of an NBA career. And with his political aspirations fading, he spends most of his time these days as a Twitter troll.
But he maintains his innocence with regard to campaign finance.
“If the FEC wants to fine us, that’s completely fine, there are much bigger scams with political campaigns,” he told The Daily Beast.
But one expert told the Daily Beast that the failed hooper could well face jail time.
“This looks a lot like the kind of thing that people go to jail for,” campaign finance law expert Brendan Fischer said.
White spent thousands of dollars in various strip clubs. He also bought himself designing clothes and shoes. Several purchases came after he had already lost the election.
White maintains his innocence and claims all of the expenditures are above board. But it sounds like he could have plenty of trouble brewing.