Former NBA player Sebastian Telfair has asked President Donald Trump for a pardon as he prepares to report to prison on Tuesday for his role in a healthcare fraud scheme. The 40-year-old ex-point guard, who pleaded guilty in 2023, was sentenced to six months after violating probation terms.
Telfair was one of 18 former basketball players indicted in October 2021 for defrauding the NBA's health and welfare benefit plan of about $2.5 million through fake medical and dental claims. Others charged included Glen 'Big Baby' Davis, Tony Allen, Jamario Moon and Darius Miles.
'I know Donald Trump got some big things going on but Donald Trump might need to come holla and give your boy a pardon so I can, you know, stay at home with my babies and continue building my career,' Telfair told TMZ Sports. He described his treatment as 'super unfair' and blamed a paperwork error for his incarceration.
Telfair, a high school star from New York City who played for the Portland Trail Blazers and other teams before retiring in China in 2017, said he plans to write a book while in prison. 'I'm definitely mad I put myself in this situation,' he added. 'But we definitely have got some wins coming.'
Trump has granted pardons to over 1,500 people involved in the January 6 Capitol riot, as well as celebrities such as rappers Lil Wayne, Kodak Black and NBA YoungBoy, reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, and former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. He has also considered clemency for Sean 'Diddy' Combs and Ghislaine Maxwell but has not acted on those cases.
