COLUMBUS, OHIO (AP) - Court documents say former Ohio State and NFL quarterback Art Schlichter (SHLEES’-tuhr) will plead guilty to fraud charges linked to a million-dollar ticket-selling scheme.
An indictment filed Wednesday accuses Schlichter of deceiving people by falsely promising sports tickets at low prices based on his contacts.
Documents filed in federal court in Columbus say Schlichter will plead guilty to bank and wire fraud and filing a false tax return.
The charges against Schlichter say he used the money he got for tickets for personal expenses, to gamble and to repay older debts.
The 51-year-old Schlichter is expected to plead guilty to related state theft charges Thursday.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) _ Former Ohio State and NFL quarterback Art Schlichter was charged in federal court Wednesday with fraud linked to a million-dollar ticket-selling scheme.
Schlichter deceived people by promising sports tickets at low prices based on his contacts, according to the indictment and supporting documents filed in U.S. District Court.
In fact, Schlichter didn’t have contacts and used the money he got for tickets for personal expenses, to gamble and to repay older debts, the court documents said.
Schlichter, 51, also has been charged in state court with multiple theft charges, with those counts expected to be resolved with a plea deal Thursday, according to Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien.
Those charges allege Schlichter and unnamed associates bilked people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Schlichter surrendered in February and remains in jail.
Beginning in 2006, according to the federal charges, Schlichter offered people a chance to buy sports tickets at low prices, mainly to Ohio State football games but also baseball and NFL games, including the Super Bowl, according to a document filed by Terrance Brown, a criminal investigator with the Internal Revenue Service.
“He represented that he had personal connections, through his history and association with the Ohio State University and the National Football League, that enabled him to get the tickets at such low prices,” Brown said.
Message were left with Schlichter’s attorneys in state and federal court.
Schlichter played at Ohio State between 1978 and 1981 and in the NFL for the Baltimore and Indianapolis Colts and Buffalo Bills. His career was derailed by a gambling addiction, and he went to prison for gambling-related crimes.
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Andrew Welsh-Huggins can be reached at https://twitter.com/awhcolumbus.
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