NFL Superstar Freddie Mitchell duped into Tax Fraud

Freddie Mitchell Dropped The Ball and the IRS Catches him

My daughter is an avid, ahem rabid, Eagles fan. At 5 ft, barely 2 inches, she can go head to head with the big guys and knows football inside and out. Me? I hate football. I don’t get why people love such violence. Its nasty and I don’t want my son playing it. But, as December 6th approaches and Freddie Mitchell, former WR for the Philadelphia Eagles, a simply presented tax fraud case is anything but simple.

After taking a plea deal and receiving 37 months in prison for playing a role in a tax fraud scam, Freddie Mitchell presented medical documentation stating he has CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a possible result of his 8 documented concussions. CTE can have symptoms of memory loss, motor skills impairment, depression, aggressive behavior and confusion.  As it is in the research stages, not everyone agrees that CTE can be properly diagnosed unless postmortem. Mitchell clearly states that he did not want a plea deal and yet took one anyway on his attorney’s advice.

This scam involved more than Freddie Mitchell. It involved an IRS agent making promises while clearly trying to defraud the government. It involved an NFL player with a big ego (something found commonly in professional sports) that had more people saying “yes” to him than clearly offering sound advice.

What do we know about this case?
1.      Freddie Mitchell did have concussions.
2.      Those concussions could’ve led to the development of CTE. But, that is not enough to prove bad decision making was caused by CTE and nothing else.
3.      An IRS agent was part of this tax fraud scam – and clearly did not get punished enough! Why aren’t we going after the IRS?
4.      Never trust an IRS agent.
5.      Call an attorney before you sign ANY document.
6.      Never let your ego be bigger than your paycheck. People want to take your money!



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