NEW YORK – 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 start serving his three-year, four-month stint for defrauding an insurance plan for NBA players and their families. She postponed his Sunday deadline to report to prison for seven weeks after his lawyer said he's working to complete a documentary film project on his life.
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A member of the Celtics' 2008 title team, Davis was among about two dozen former players and others, including doctors, who were convicted over the past few years of cheating the NBA Players’ Health and Benefit Welfare Plan of over $5 million.
On Tuesday, attorney Brendan White requested the delay for Davis, citing a Hollywood production company's need to finish its project. White wrote that delays in the project were caused by difficulties arranging interviews with professional teammates and colleagues who need to 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 postponement, Caproni wrote that Davis “owes significant restitution” to a victim and she hopes that “optimism about the financial rewards of the film is warranted.”
At a May 9 sentencing, Davis referenced an injury that derailed his career and said that for the past five or six years, “I've been struggling because basketball was taken from me.”
“That's all I know. I was expert at that,” he said. “But when I lost basketball, I lost myself.”
His lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, said at sentencing that Davis had faced a “colossal streak of bad luck” and was so destitute that he once asked her for $800 so he could keep his phone working.
Caproni said at the time, though, that Davis hadn't fully cooperated with Probation Department officers and hadn't taken steps to address his problems.
A federal prosecutor, Ryan Finkel, told the judge at sentencing that Davis was “probably the most successful basketball player” caught 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.