An attorney convicted of defrauding NBA celebrity Charles Barkley and using the call of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to reinforce an investment scam became sentenced to 5 years in jail Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre ordered Donald Watkins to pay about $14 million in restitution. Prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of 17-plus years for Watkins and 6-plus years for his son, Donald Watkins Jr. Both were convicted on fraud and conspiracy fees in advance this year. Prosecutors said the two men stole more than $15 million from traders and a financial institution.
Bowdre said she considered the older man’s age, 70, in imposing a lighter sentence; however, the period becomes stiffer than the home confinement requested via Watkins. She then commenced sentencing, listening to the son. During the pair’s trial in advance this year, witnesses, including Barkley, testified about approximately losing money in a funding scheme run through the elder Watkins. Barkley, who grew up close to Birmingham and now works as a television analyst, described himself as a pal of the elder Watkins. He has broken up time residing in Alabama and Atlanta. As a result, prosecutors said Barkley misplaced more than $6 million in investments and loans, and so did other professional athletes, including former NFL gamers Takeo Spikes and Bryan Thomas and former NBA big name Damon Stoudamire.
Stoudamire’s spouse, Natasha Taylor-Stoudamire, spoke at the sentencing and said she couldn’t realize what Watkins had done. I can’t even recognize how Donald Watkins Sr. And Jr. Can take cash from me or the other victims trying to have generational wealth for our children’s children,” she stated, aligning with al.Com.
Rice, a local of Birmingham, testified that Watkins Sr. Wrongly used her call to promote an energy business at the heart of the case. Prosecutors said Watkins included Rice’s name in an e-mail to investors, although she had declined to get concerned. Watkins once served as a town council member in Bernard Law Montgomery and helped successfully shield HealthSouth Corp. Founder Richard Scrushy in a massive fraud that nearly bankrupted the agency, now called Encompass Health. Watkins additionally has labored on civil rights instances.
More than 15 years ago, Watkins drew media attention when he tried to purchase a Major League Baseball group. More recently, he stated he had attempted to buy the NFL’s St. Louis Rams before the crew moved to Los Angeles. Although he portrayed himself as wealthy, prosecutors said Watkins had an internet account worth just a few thousand dollars. Writing in a weblog post earlier than the sentencing, Watkins Sr. Stated he might maintain to enchant his conviction and claimed he turned into innocent. Jurors attempt to do the proper element, more frequently than not. However, my forty-six years of energetic participation within the American judicial device has shown me (and the world) that properly means jurors regularly convict innocent defendants,” Watkins wrote.
As Zion Williamson continues to put off his expected landmark shoe deal choice, the rest of the 2019 NBA rookie magnificence has been stalled. Most of the 2019 first-round selections entered the summertime league while not having inked a shoe deal, allowing for a ramification of lesser-regarded gamers to make their mark with their footwear suddenly. With his older sibling’s first signature shoe launching simply as the Las Vegas Summer League tipped off, Dallas Mavericks ahead Kostas Antetokounmpo served up the on-courtroom debut of brother Giannis’ Nike Freak 1 sneaker in 4 exceptional colorways, no much less.
Of the four colorways donned by using Kostas, one especially holds more for the brothers: The white, purple, and gold pair with a “Roses” theme honors their past due father, Charles. We have been within the method of designing this shoe as a crew. At the same time, his father passed away abruptly,” Nike vice-chairman Kevin Dodson said throughout the preview episode of SneakerCenter on ESPN+.
That just started taking on an extra significant reference factor for that name. As Giannis and his brothers met with Nike’s crew of designers during the last two years to pepper in additional signature touches and nuances, the currently topped NBA MVP mandated a chain of own family nods. The names of all 4 of his brothers appear along the heel. “In addition, Charles + Veronica” may be determined along the arch, speaking to the dad and mom’s assistance of the circle of relatives. Most critically, the word “I am my father’s legacy” is featured throughout the lowest of the shoes. I want my dad to be remembered and people to recognize that he left a legacy behind,” Antetokounmpo informed The Undefeated and SneakerCenter. “Every shoe I make, that word will constantly be there.
