Lexington judge sentences former UofL, NFL player for role in $2.4 million fraud scheme

A former University of Louisville football standout and retired NFL linebacker was ordered by a Lexington judge to spend five years in prison after he orchestrated a fraud scheme which took millions of dollars from an NFL health care account.

An emotional Robert McCune apologized during testimony Wednesday to the judge, prosecutors, co-conspirators, and his friends and family who vouched for him.

“It was just a tough time for me physically and mentally and I’m truly, truly sorry for what I’ve done,” McCune said.

After running the scheme, which took more than $2.4 million in bogus money from an NFL health care account, McCune will have to pay restitution in addition to serving his prison time. He’ll have to share the restitution responsibility with the other players who have been convicted. Fifteen former players were charged in the case.

McCune pleaded guilty last year to the charges he was indicted on, which included conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health care fraud, multiple counts of aiding and abetting in wire fraud, multiple counts of health care fraud, multiple counts of aiding and abetting in health care fraud and multiple counts of aggravated identity theft.

Unlike many of his co-conspirators, McCune didn’t have a plea agreement with federal prosecutors when he pleaded guilty. His sentence was significantly longer than any other defendant in the case, with the second-longest sentence being a year and a half.

U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell said Wednesday she thought McCune had “incredibly admirable” characteristics, but she needed to deter other people from committing fraud and had to deliver a punishment which matched the crime. As the organizer and primary perpetrator in the fraud, his sentence needed to be more significant, she said.

McCune, 42, was one of 15 former NFL players criminally charged in the scheme. The group took advantage of the Gene Upshaw NFL Player Health Reimbursement Account Plan, a health care fund which former NFL players could use to help pay for medical expenses not covered by insurance.

McCune’s unlikely path to the NFL included a difficult childhood, military enlistment after high school, active duty tours and a late rise to stardom as a Louisville football player who was much older than his teammates because he served in the military before going to college. He began as a walk-on at Louisville but wound up a scholarship player and team captain.

How former Louisville star managed to take money from NFL health plan

McCune was eligible to use the reimbursement plan as a former player, and he did so legitimately at first. He submitted claims to get money back for health care expenses in 2015 and 2016, according to court records.

In a letter to the court, McCune wrote he suffered significant health care problems in his post-football life. He played in the NFL and in the Canadian Football League for several years, according to court records.

“My body was beat down by the time I left the NFL,” he wrote. “My head was injured, my upper and lower back had damage, my rib was cracked, and my knees were killing me. It just felt that everything was starting to ache, and my body was breaking down.”

McCune’s medical bills started piling up and he didn’t know how to get help from the NFL. He eventually entered a mental health facility, according to the letter. The staff at the facility helped him learn about the player health care reimbursement account and he started filing legitimate claims.

Once he knew how to file the claims, he “devised a scheme to extract additional money from the plan,” prosecutors said in court records.

Using documents from health care providers who had previously given him paperwork to file legitimate claims, McCune began filing for bogus reimbursements. He altered dates on original prescriptions from doctors in order to make the prescriptions seem new, according to court records.

After submitting bogus claims for himself, McCune worked with other players to file claims for fraudulent expenses under their names. From June 2017 to April 2018, he filed 68 claims for 51 former players, according to court records.

McCune sometimes recruited the former players himself, but also had them recruit others.

In exchange for helping former players get money through the bogus claims, McCune demanded kickbacks. He made at least $180,000 through this scheme, according to court records.

Friends, family: McCune has always been upstanding

McCune’s attorneys and witnesses who attended Wednesday’s hearing testified that he was a man of high character. He’s done charity work, coached youth football players and served as a remarkable father, they said.

“What we see here today does not display the character and the integrity that Robert has,” said Ricky Wright, an assistant principal at a school in Georgia, who played high school football with McCune and has since been a lifelong friend.

McCune’s coaches from Louisville said his high character was always on display during his college football career. He never missed a class or practice, unless he had to because of his military obligations. During workouts, practices, games and classes, he did everything the coaches asked of him.

“If you defined your career with every one of your players being like Robert McCune, you’d be the most successful coach in America,” said Greg Nord, a former assistant coach at Louisville.

McCune was trying to help players who were in a similar situation of suffering mental and physical health issues after their football careers, he wrote in the letter.

“I know there is no turning back for what I did but my true intentions were only to get help and try to help other players who were lost just like me,” he wrote.

Prosecutors: McCune wasn’t running a charity

Prosecutors took issue with his depiction of the situation.

“This was no charity,” prosecutors wrote in court records. “Month after month, he sought thousands of dollars in kickbacks — as much as $8,000 at a time — for submitting these bogus claims. This money was supposed to assist players and their families with real medical needs; instead, it lined McCune’s pockets.”

During his NFL career, McCune played for the franchise now known as the Washington Commanders, Miami Dolphins, the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns.

In addition to serving prison time and paying restitution, McCune will have to spend three years on supervised release after he gets out of prison. He’ll also have to do 240 hours of community service, Caldwell ruled.

He’s been allowed to self-report to prison, which he’ll have to do by April 12.

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