Irving Fryar Convicted: Former NFLer Convicted On Mortgage Fraud Charges, Faces 10 Years In Prison

Irving Fryar was convicted on fraud charges on Friday, along with his mother, Allene McGhee. Fryar and McGhee each face 10 years in prison after a scheme that “[stripped] seven banks of $1.2 million” back in 2009. The two were indicted back in 2013.

According to Bleacher Report, the former wide receiver and his mom were both found guilty after a three week trial, and are awaiting their sentencing.

According to ABC News, the 52-year-old told the jury that he was the victim of a “con artist” named William Barksdale, and tried to place the blame elsewhere. Fryar and his mother have maintained that Barksdale was doing the wheeling and dealing behind the scenes. And that was certainly part of what was going on. Barksdale pleaded guilty to charges in 2014, and was sentenced to 20 months behind bars.

Irving Fryar was convicted even still, as the prosecutors brought enough concrete evidence to prove that Fryar and McGhee were both guilty.

“Authorities said Fryar and McGhee provided false wage information on her loan applications and claimed she earned thousands of dollars a month as an event coordinator for Fryar’s church. Authorities said the pair made just a few payments on four of the loans and banks eventually wrote the loans off as losses.”

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Fryar and McGhee rejected plea deals which would have automatically sent them both to jail for a few years, maximum. Evidently the two believed that they had a good chance of getting off in the case, and took their chances. However, that is not what happened, and now they are both facing significant time behind bars.

‘Fryar and McGhee could have been sentenced for five and three years, respectively, had they accepted the plea deals extended to them. However, presumably egged on by their lawyers who maintained that the duo were victims of Barksdale, not criminals, Irving Fryar and his mother staunchly refused the bargain plea.”

Fryar was a well-known NFL player in the 80s and early 90s. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in 1984, and played for the Miami Dolphins, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Washington Redskins over the course of his football career. He retired from the NFL in 2001.

Fryar is currently the pastor of a church according to ABC News.

The sentencing for a convicted Irving Fryar and his mom will take place on October 2.

[Photo by Jonathan Ferrey / Getty Images Sport]