According to a complaint filed by the Department of Justice, Cleveland Browns linebacker, Mychal Kendricks, and former Goldman Sachs analyst-turned-TV writer, Damilare Sonoiki, have been charged with securities fraud.
Kendricks admitted to his involvement in an insider trading scheme with Sonoiki between 2013 and 2015 — and, according to his attorney, plans to plead guilty in the coming weeks.
The DoJ alleges that the Harvard-educated Sonoiki advised Kendricks to invest $80k in 4 companies: Compuware, Move, Sapient, and Oplink. In less than 5 months, he “magically” generated close to $1.2m in illicit gains.
In return for the tips, Kendricks reportedly provided around $10k in kickbacks to Sonoiki, in the form of cash and NFL tickets.
Kendricks has apologized to the NFL, his family, the Cleveland Browns (who he signed a one-year deal with in June), and the Philadelphia Eagles (who he won a Super Bowl with last year).
(Meanwhile, he kinda, sorta threw his “friend” under the bus.)
In a statement, he acknowledged he was aware of his wrongdoing at the time of the scheme, yet also implied that Sonoiki gave him a “false sense of confidence.”
If convicted, both men face up to 25 years in prison.