A Georgia businessman was convicted Friday on five counts by a federal jury in Manhattan of defrauding former NBA players Dwight Howard and Chandler Parsons of a combined $8 million in 2021.
Calvin Darden Jr. was found guilty of fraud, bank fraud, money laundering and two different conspiracy counts. Darden was involved in multiple schemes with former NBA agent Charles Briscoe, who pleaded guilty to his role in the case last year.
Prosecutors presented evidence that Howard sent Darden a $7 million payment for what the former All-Star thought was part of an effort to purchase WNBA team the Atlanta Dream.
Parsons was tricked into a fraudulent investment in the development of the career of former No. 2 draft pick James Wiseman. Government lawyers have indicated they plan to argue for a sentence of 11 to 14 years for Darden, who was also convicted of a multimillion fraud scheme in 2016.
The jury, which took five hours to reach the verdict after a two-week trial, was presented evidence that Darden used $6.1 million of Howard’s $7 million on two cars including a Lamborghini, $110,000 on a piano, $90,000 on watches and to…
