Kermit Washington arrested in Homeland Security investigation
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 3:56 pm    Post subject:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2018/07/10/kermit-washington-nba-sentenced-six-years-prison-fraud-tomjanovich/771345002/

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Former NBA player Kermit Washington sentenced to six years in federal prison for charity fraud
Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY Published 2:14 p.m. ET July 10, 2018


Former NBA player Kermit Washington was sentenced on Monday to six years in federal prison for convictions on charity fraud. He was also ordered to pay nearly $970,000 in restitution.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in the western district of Missouri stated in a news release that the 66-year-old Washington "abused his fame and status to promote a charity scam by which he raised hundreds of thousands of dollars that he diverted to personal spending on lavish vacations, shopping sprees, and even plastic surgery for his girlfriend."

Washington -- best known for knocking out Houston's Rudy Tomjanovich with a devastating punch in a 1977 game -- told donors that the funds were going toward charitable work in Africa for starving and HIV-positive children.

In November 2017, Washington pleaded guilty in federal court in Kansas City, Mo., to making a false statement on his tax return and to aggravated identity theft.

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"His fraud scheme also victimized law-abiding taxpayers by stealing from the public treasury rather than paying taxes owed,” the U.S. Attorney's Office noted.

Washington played for five NBA teams in the 1970s and 1980s. He was with the Los Angeles Lakers when he hit Tomjanovich in what has since been remembered as "The Punch." Washington was suspended for 60 days after Tomjanovich was hospitalized for several injuries -- a fractured skull, broken jaw, broken nose and leakage of spinal fluid. He eventually needed surgery to reconstruct his face.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 5:31 pm    Post subject:

what a tragic tale.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 6:31 pm    Post subject:

Kermit won the battle but Rudy T won the war
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 9:48 am    Post subject:

Dr. Laker wrote:
Isn't that Mychal Thompson's best buddy & former radio partner?

I liked Kermit as a player. He suffered as much as Rudy did from the incident. Kermit was developing into JUST the PF that Kareem needed when The Punch happened.


Wow, don't kid yourself or us.

Kermit didn't suffer pain, surgery, therapy or a lifetime of jaw ache that Rudy did, though KW has suffered in his lifetime for his many bad choices in life. That punch was completely inappropriate and near-criminally-thrown punch. I would liked to have seen jail time for KW, not absolvement and continued NBA emplyment. An immediate lifetime league ban would be issued today for that act. Kermit got off easy. If he suffers forever for what he did that day, it wouldn't begin to excuse it.

That punch didn't just happen (Kermit threw it) and paid a very small price for it.
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:50 pm    Post subject:

MJST wrote:
Kind of weird despite the documentary about what he's done since and the great redemption story he has, they just always wanna bring up him punching Rudy T.


His rep is done now. Kermit Mudd.

Sad that he long-conned everyone. Am I shocked? Nope. Former NBA players been droppin like flies in recent years.
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:56 pm    Post subject:

Huey Lewis & The News wrote:
Kermit won the battle but Rudy T won the war


If Kermit were in FMJ, he'd be Animal Mother.
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 6:44 pm    Post subject:

70sdude wrote:
Dr. Laker wrote:
Isn't that Mychal Thompson's best buddy & former radio partner?

I liked Kermit as a player. He suffered as much as Rudy did from the incident. Kermit was developing into JUST the PF that Kareem needed when The Punch happened.


Wow, don't kid yourself or us.

Kermit didn't suffer pain, surgery, therapy or a lifetime of jaw ache that Rudy did, though KW has suffered in his lifetime for his many bad choices in life. That punch was completely inappropriate and near-criminally-thrown punch. I would liked to have seen jail time for KW, not absolvement and continued NBA emplyment. An immediate lifetime league ban would be issued today for that act. Kermit got off easy. If he suffers forever for what he did that day, it wouldn't begin to excuse it.

That punch didn't just happen (Kermit threw it) and paid a very small price for it.


Perfectly stated. I'm of an age that remembers that incident. I've heard the whole "both players suffered the outcome if it" nonsense and it is just that.
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 8:25 am    Post subject:

DaMuleRules wrote:
70sdude wrote:
Dr. Laker wrote:
Isn't that Mychal Thompson's best buddy & former radio partner?

I liked Kermit as a player. He suffered as much as Rudy did from the incident. Kermit was developing into JUST the PF that Kareem needed when The Punch happened.


Wow, don't kid yourself or us.

Kermit didn't suffer pain, surgery, therapy or a lifetime of jaw ache that Rudy did, though KW has suffered in his lifetime for his many bad choices in life. That punch was completely inappropriate and near-criminally-thrown punch. I would liked to have seen jail time for KW, not absolvement and continued NBA emplyment. An immediate lifetime league ban would be issued today for that act. Kermit got off easy. If he suffers forever for what he did that day, it wouldn't begin to excuse it.

That punch didn't just happen (Kermit threw it) and paid a very small price for it.


Perfectly stated. I'm of an age that remembers that incident. I've heard the whole "both players suffered the outcome if it" nonsense and it is just that.


I think Kermit even utilized whatever sympathy he gained into a long con. NBA TV ran a special about his resurrection in 2013ish. I saw it, very maudlin. Not saying he didn't suffer some of the financial woes that other NBA players of his gen have gone thru including Robert Parish (who had a notorious punch himself, but punching Laimbeer is something to be celebrated), but to my knowledge Chief hasn't done any time since retirement. Anyway, Kermit was discussing his charity and/or philanthropic work. They showed him walking in the old Forum, before the renovations, iirc. He stood in the general spot where the punch took place. I hate to think that he used the good will he was able to garner in order to appear more legitimate. That screams "slow roll". He might've been altruistic to an extent when it started out, but the money got to him. That would be the best case scenario here. Worst would be that he did everything he could to build up a charity that he could rob from the get-go. That would be Sopranoish.
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 5:28 pm    Post subject:

https://sports.yahoo.com/kermit-washington-the-punch-asks-release-prison-coronavirus-covid19-pandemic-charity-fraud-220202880.html

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Ex-NBA forward Kermit Washington requests release from prison, citing coronavirus concerns


Former NBA All-Star Kermit Washington has formally requested his release from prison, claiming that he is at “high risk of death or serious illness from COVID-19,” according to TMZ.

The 68-year-old was sentenced to six years in prison in 2018 after he was convicted in a charity fraud case.


There were more than 926,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States as of Saturday afternoon, according to The New York Times. Many prisons across the country have been releasing inmates or transferring them to house arrest in recent weeks due to the pandemic, which is much harder to contain in a prison where inmates are living in such close and oftentimes unsanitary conditions.

“Only the court can correct this injustice and protect me and my life,” Washington said, via TMZ.

Washington was selected with the No. 5 overall pick in the 1973 draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, and spent nearly a decade in the league before retiring after the 1981-82 season. After spending his first four seasons with the Lakers, Washington also had stints with the Boston Celtics, San Diego Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers, where he earned his one and only All-Star nod. Washington came out of retirement briefly during the 1987-88 season, though played in just six games for the Golden State Warriors.

He is perhaps best remembered for “The Punch” in 1977, when he punched Houston forward Rudy Tomjanovich square in the face, sending him sprawling to the floor. Washington was suspended for 60 days, and Tomjanovich was hospitalized with a fractured skull, broken jaw and nose.


In total, Washington averaged 9.2 points and 8.3 rebounds over 507 games.

He pleaded guilty to making a false statement on his tax return and aggravated identity theft in 2017 in connection with a charity fraud case, in which he was accused of stealing funds that were donated to charity work in Africa to help hungry and HIV-positive children, according to USA Today.

“This former NBA player abused his fame and status to promote a charity scam by which he raised hundreds of thousands of dollars that he diverted to personal spending on lavish vacations, shopping sprees, and even plastic surgery for his girlfriend,” United States attorney Timothy Garrison said in a statement after his sentencing. “Although he told his donors that 100 percent of all donations would go to support charitable work in Africa, including a medical clinic for needy families and HIV-positive children, in fact he spent most of the donated funds on himself. His fraud scheme also victimized law-abiding taxpayers by stealing from the public treasury rather than paying taxes owed.”
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