Former Eagles Super Bowl-Winning RB Facing Up to 50 Years in Jail for Fraud

The ex-NFL player is accused of defrauding COVID-19 relief programs, specifically.

Philadelphia Eagles' Wendell Smallwood at Lincoln Financial Field. / Jerry Habraken, The News Journal via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Former NFL running back Wendell Smallwood Jr. has been charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, court documents reveal.

Smallwood, who won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles, is specifically accused of defrauding two federal COVID-19 relief programs— the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and the Paycheck Protection Program—and participating in a tax fraud conspiracy by submitting false loan, tax, and business information to the federal government, per CBS News and PhillyVoice. He is said to have received tens of thousands of dollars in return.

Smallwood has not yet been arraigned, nor has he entered a plea, per Delaware Online. "Wendell has cooperated fully with this investigation," said his lawyer, Mark B. Sheppard, noting he and his client will have "more to say" at a hearing scheduled for December.

The Eagles selected Smallwood in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL draft; he stayed with Philly for three seasons. He later played for Washington and Pittsburgh and was a member of the Jacksonville practice squad. He is now facing up to 50 years in prison.

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