Former Cleveland Browns player Reggie Rucker was charged in federal court Tuesday for allegedly using charitable donations to help pay his gambling debt and personal expenses.
He was also charged for lying to the FBI about his use of those funds.
According to the Department of Justice, Rucker was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of making false statement to law enforcement after he allegedly used the funds of anti-violence groups he led for personal use.
“Reggie Rucker misused his celebrity and position in the community to dupe some of our most important local foundations and generous citizens,” said acting U.S. Attorney Carole Rendon. “He stole from the very violence interrupters he so publically claimed to support. In one breath he begged generous donors to save Amer-I-Can and the Peacemakers Alliance, and in the next he stole that money to support his lifestyle and his gambling junkets in Cleveland, Florida, and Las Vegas, using the charity’s account as his own ATM.”
Rucker served as executive director of Amer-I-Can, a non-profit in Shaker Heights, and president of Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance(CPA), an organization dedicated to resolve conflicts in Cleveland.
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source: newsnet5.com
