CLEVELAND: Former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Reggie Rucker will have nearly $400 a month garnished from his NFL pension payments after stealing from his nonviolence nonprofit groups.
Rucker was sentenced last year to 21 months in prison and ordered to pay $110,000 for using money from two charities to pay gambling debts and personal expenses. Cleveland.com reports the garnishments recently approved by a judge are Rucker’s first meaningful payments to the Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance and other groups.
His attorney has said the 69-year-old intends to pay restitution using money he might get from a class-action settlement between the NFL and athletes who suffered concussions. That claims process might take years.
His attorney blamed Rucker’s actions on a gambling addiction caused by football-related brain injuries. Prosecutors scoffed at that argument.