Tony Allen avoids jail time in health care fraud case

The Grindfather has avoided the worst-case scenario in the high-profile NBA welfare fraud case.

Pete Brush of Law360 reported this week that retired former Memphis Grizzlies swingman Tony Allen was sentenced to community service and supervision for his role in a $5 million scheme to defraud the NBA’s health and welfare benefit plan. Most notable about Allen’s sentence is that he will not have to serve any jail time. Brush adds that Allen, before his sentencing, paid back most of the $420,000 that he illegally took as part of the scheme.

The 41-year-old Allen played 14 NBA seasons and won a championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008. After his Celtics career, Allen became a beloved fan favorite for the Memphis Grizzlies, making six All-Defensive Teams as part of the franchise’s fabled “Grit and Grind” era.

Having last played in late 2017, Allen was one of 18 former NBA players arrested in the welfare fraud scheme. The scheme allegedly involved those players submitting roughly $5 million in fake reimbursement claims from 2017-20 for medical and dental services that were never rendered.

Although Allen, who officially pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud back in April, managed to avoid jail time, another ex-NBAer indicted in the scheme did not fare as well.