Former football players get a lot of publicity when they are arrested or sentenced for breaking the law. But in this case, the charges are kind of unusual—workers’ compensation fraud.
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According to the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC), Kelvin Kinney, now of Tampa, Florida, and a former Columbus (OH) Destroyer, was just convicted of workers’ comp fraud after pleading guilty to the fifth-degree felony in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.
Kinney was employed as a Columbus Destroyer when originally injured and “totally disabled” in 2008 and began receiving benefits from the BWC. However, he returned to work not in the National Football League, but in the Arena Football League, where he played for the Dallas Vigilantes and the Tampa Bay Storm.
A press release on the case says Kinney fraudulently continued to collect over $100,000 in living maintenance, nonworking wage loss, and temporary total disability benefits from the BWC while playing as a defensive lineman for both teams. He was caught in a routine BWC cross-match search.
Kinney was sentenced to serve 12 months of incarceration, which was suspended for 3 years of “community control.” Conditions of his community control include paying $31,359.80 in restitution and investigative costs to the BWC and completing 100 hours of community service.
If he fails to comply with the conditions of community control, Kinney will face the 12 months of incarceration.
Additional source: www.nbc4i.com