Luther Davis, a former defensive lineman at the University of Alabama and member of the Tide’s 2009 national championship team, plans to plead guilty to orchestrating a $20 million scheme in which he sought to defraud lenders by impersonating NFL athletes, such as Atlanta Falcons QB Micahel Penix Jr.
According to court documents reviewed by The Guardian, Davis and another accomplice allegedly secured as many as 13 loans by appearing before lenders wearing wigs and other forms of disguises. In total, the pair is thought to have swindled lenders out of $19,845,000.
Davis and his accomplice, CJ Evins, waived their right to indictment by a grand jury. The vast majority of the ill-gotten gains appear to have come from three lenders whom Evins and Davis reportedly shook down for $11.6 million.
Among the players impersonated by the pair are former Alabama safety and current Green Bay Packer Xavier McKinney, Browns tight end David Njoku, and Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr.
“Beginning no later than in or around May 2023 and continuing through in or about October 2024, the defendant, Luther Davis, and CJ Evins, executed a scheme to fraudulently obtain millions of dollars in loans from multiple lenders, including, but not limited to, Aliya Sports and All Pro Capital Funding, by impersonating professional football players and falsely claiming those players were seeking multi-million dollar Loans,” U.S. federal prosecutors allege, per The Guardian.
Davis and Ervin are charged with aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit wire fraud; those charges carry a potential sentence of up to 20 years in jail.
The pair will enter their guilty plea at their hearing on April 27.
