Posted on 02/03/2007 1:04:30 PM PST by mcg2000
DETROIT (AP) - Former NBA player Robert Traylor pleaded guilty Thursday to preparing a false tax return after hiding assets for a convicted drug dealer.
Traylor's name was used to make it appear that he purchased two Detroit rental properties, but the properties were actually bought and owned by Quasand Lewis, a convicted drug trafficker and money launderer, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen Murphy's office. The 29-year-old Traylor admitted in his plea that the properties were listed in his name to conceal Lewis' ownership from police. Traylor also admitted claiming a false loss of more than $205,000 from the properties on his 2004 federal income tax return.
"Robert Traylor is a basketball player, not a businessman," Traylor's attorney, Steven Fishman, told The Associated Press on Thursday night. "He got some bad advice and unfortunately he took it. So here we are."
Traylor is the second defendant to plead guilty this year to concealing assets for Lewis, who was sentenced in December to 18 years in prison for his role in distributing more than 22,000 pounds of marijuana in the Detroit area.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.foxsports.com ...
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