NEW YORK (AP) — A film project has earned former Boston Celtics forward Glen “Big Baby” Davis a temporary reprieve from the start of his three-year prison term for a fraud conviction in Manhattan federal court.
Judge Valerie E. Caproni on Wednesday said Davis can wait until Oct. 22 to begin serving his three-year, four-month sentence for defrauding an insurance plan for NBA players and their families. She delayed his Sunday deadline to report to prison for seven weeks after his lawyer said he was working to complete a documentary about his life.
A member of the Celtics’ 2008 title team, Davis was among about two dozen former players and others, including doctors, who have been convicted over the past few years of defrauding the NBA Players’ Health and Benefit Welfare Plan of more than 5 million USD.
On Tuesday, attorney Brendan White asked for the delay for Davis, citing the need for a Hollywood production company to finish its project. White wrote that delays in the project were caused by difficulties arranging interviews with professional teammates and colleagues who must speak with Davis on film.
The lawyer also wrote that film revenue “could go a long way” toward satisfying $80,000 in restitution.
In her order granting the delay, Caproni wrote that Davis “owes significant restitution” to a victim and she hopes that “optimism about the film’s financial rewards is warranted.”
At a May 9 sentencing hearing, Davis referenced an injury that derailed his career and said that for the past five or six years, “I’ve struggled because basketball was taken from me.”
“That’s all I know. I was an expert on that,” he said. “But when I lost basketball, I lost myself.”
His lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, said at sentencing that Davis had suffered a “colossal streak of bad luck” and was so poor that he once asked her for $800 so he could keep his phone working.
Caproni said at the time, however, that Davis did not fully cooperate with Probation Department officers and did not take steps to address his problems.
Federal prosecutor Ryan Finkel told the judge at sentencing that Davis was “probably the most successful basketball player” caught up in the insurance conspiracy.
“He was on a championship team,” Finkel said.
Davis, 38, played for the Celtics, Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Clippers from 2007 to 2015 after leading Louisiana State University to the 2006 NCAA championship game.
