Ex-NBA All-Star going to prison after despicable charity scam
Kermit Washington was behind one of the most infamous incidents in NBA history.
In a 1977 game between the Lakers and Rockets, Washington wheeled around during a brawl, caught a charging Rudy Tomjanovich clean in the face with a punch, and shattered Rudy T’s face, nearly killing him in the process.
It turns out that might not even end up being the worst moment of Washington’s life.
Washington, who pleaded guilty to three felony counts of charity fraud in Missouri, was sentenced in federal court to six years in prison.
For the 66-year-old Washington, that’s going to take a big bite out of his golden years.
The fraud in question involved soliciting donations for various charities in Africa, but rather than sending the funds to help people in need, Washington instead simply pocketed the money and used it to fund a lavish lifestyle.
In the process, he broke two of the most fundamental rules of committing crime.
One, as the old saying goes, “you’ll get away with stealing a quarter but not a $100 bill.”
And two, if you live large, people are eventually going to start wondering where you’re getting the money.
Washington bilked his marks for hundreds of thousands of dollars and used that money to go on shopping sprees and pay for his girlfriend’s plastic surgery.
On top of the six-year sentence, Washington was ordered to pay nearly $1 million in restitution to his victims, a requirement likely to bankrupt him.
Tomjanovich, for his part, has forgiven Washington for hitting him so hard that he ended up leaking spinal fluid from his brain into his mouth on that fateful day more than 40 years ago.
Upon hearing Washington had run into trouble with the law and been convicted for running a huge con, Rudy T said, “I feel sorry for him. I know Kermit. We had made up after that incident and I know he was trying to make it like anybody, and I feel for the guy.”
With all due respect to Tomjanovich, most “anybody” types in the world don’t try to make it by preying on people’s good nature.
There are plenty of perfectly legitimate charities doing good work in Africa providing access to clean water, building schools and health clinics, providing much-needed medicine and mosquito netting and raising awareness of conflict minerals in the electronics industry being used to fund warlords in the Congo.
For someone to take advantage of that for such naked personal gain is shameful; six years seems awfully light for such brute dishonesty.
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