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In this episode of American Greed, in the big money world of professional
athletes, life outside the game can get tricky.
There is a cadre of people taking care of all the drama that's going on behind
the scenes.
At the end of the day, the hardest thing to do is trying to trust people.
Introducing Peggy Fulford, a sweet -talking beauty who says she doesn't
cash. She had the money.
Like, you believed it. She had all the money.
She always was driving in the Rolls Royce, always had diamonds on, very
diamonds. She worked with Bud Hilliard, Travis Best, and Ricky Williams, and
Dennis Rodman.
She's the solver of problems.
She was everyone's go -to for anything.
If I'm going through a divorce, I'm calling Peggy.
Their baby mama drama, she would nip that in the bud.
But Peggy is not only looking to manage their personal lives, she wants to help
build a legacy.
One of her taglines on business cards was creating generational wealth.
I do control a very large part of their life. And when you control someone's
finances, that is their life.
And when unsuspecting athletes hand over the key to their financial futures,
there's only one drawback.
These athletes...
thought that they and their families were set for life, and she got every
they had.
She was siphoning away and stealing everything she could get her hands on.
At the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Massachusetts in August
2011, the crowd is tapped as this year's inductee, Dennis Rodman,
arrives for the ceremony.
I was invited by Dennis. I thought it was going to be amazing, which it was.
Dennis was very emotional, and it was a great weekend.
In a red carpet photo...
An attractive middle -aged woman is positioned directly in front of Rodman.
Her face is beaming with pride.
She was wearing all white.
I mean, she was stunning. I mean, it was really something that you're like, who
is this person? You would think she was getting inducted.
After singling her out with a kiss as he enters the ceremony, Peggy King, also
known as Peggy Fulpern, is among the first people a tearful Rodman mentions.
Peggy King, Elton King, the family, these guys are taking care of me these
Thank you, Peggy.
AJ Bright is a friend and former manager of Dennis Rodman.
It just shows you how much he loved her.
The relationship between Peggy and Dennis was next level.
But in the span of three years... Rodman's lawyer, Bradford Cohen, and
Rodman's team will discover that Peggy is faking her credentials.
They'll accuse her of stealing, quote, a ton of money from the NBA All -Star.
Rodman is not alone.
He's one of several celebrity athletes who will soon say that Peggy King, a .k
.a. Fulford, befriended them, promised to safeguard their finances.
And then cheated them out of millions of dollars.
She was caring and loving, but then also just robbing them blind at the same
time.
There was just two sides to Peggy.
Perhaps it's ironic that the story of Peggy Ann Fulford begins in a city built
for both the sinner and the saint.
New Orleans.
The side hustle is a huge part of people's identity here. A lot of people
that honestly, and other people's side hustle is not honest.
Peggy grows up here in a neighborhood where, according to journalist Ramon
Antonio Vargas, the residents look out for their own.
I'm pretty good at finding things out about people.
But this kind of goes to the neighborhood that she's from. It was
anybody that actually wanted to speak about her.
Peggy Fulford declined an interview with American Greed.
But records show her attending Spelman College under the maiden name Peggy
Berard.
Court records will later reveal multiple aliases attributed to Peggy.
Some include the last names of her five ex -husbands.
Chantel Cohen is 21 years old when she meets Peggy.
They meet by chance through Chantel's friendship with an NFL rookie named
Williams.
Ricky and I met in elementary school. I was about five, he was about six. We
went to the same junior high school, same high school.
He's my bestie.
He's my best friend.
Two years before, New Orleans Saints head coach Mike Ditka had made one of
most controversial moves in NFL history, trading eight draft picks in order to
nab Ricky Williams for the Saints.
Ditka's infatuation with the dreadlocked rookie makes Williams the most hyped
young athlete in the NFL.
So for him to come into the NFL, that's a lot of pressure, you know, but
everyone loved Ricky.
When Ricky is chosen for an episode of MTV Crib, he hires an interior designer
to stage his New Orleans condo.
Peggy unexpectedly tags along.
She walks into the condo and I'm just like, who is this lady?
Beautiful, hair done, makeup, jewelry, Gucci, like, just
stunning.
The first time that we ever went out, she asked me and my friend to call her
Raquel. People who know me know me as Peggy, but, you know, I don't need
all in my business and everything like that, so when we go out, call me Raquel.
We kind of laughed about it, like, okay, you have an alias?
Okay, cool.
And if Peggy King has a secret to hide, Chantel writes it off as the eccentric
behavior of the rich and beautiful.
In the ensuing months, Peggy becomes close friends with both Chantel and
She tells them that she's a Harvard Law graduate who's made millions on Wall
Street.
She had a huge house in New Orleans, different cars.
Always was shopping.
She just had all the accoutrements of someone who was extremely successful.
She had the whole package. She claims she's also a certified financial advisor
with a soft spot for professional athletes. Because they never had like a
plan of what they wanted to do after the field.
Her main goal was...
keep the athletes from getting scammed by family members, by strangers.
In 2001, after a challenging year in the NFL spotlight, Ricky is diagnosed with
social anxiety disorder.
Peggy's there to add a mature and stable influence in his life.
Peggy had that, like, motherly instinct and kind of, you know, she would call
you baby and let me take care of you.
When Ricky and his partner Kristen Barnes get pregnant with their first
Peggy throws Kristen a baby shower.
And Peggy drives Kristen home from the hospital when the baby is born.
Peggy was always there. She did dinners for us, and whenever Kristen and Ricky
would get into it, Kristen would automatically call Peggy.
She always said, I love you guys. You guys are like my brothers and sisters.
You're like my family.
Although he was not involved in Peggy's case, Chase Carlson is an attorney who
specializes in investment fraud litigation.
He shares what the court records disclose about Kristen and Peggy's
Peggy said that she was the sister he never had.
Ricky's ex -wife said that she was her best friend.
That was sort of Peggy's way of getting, latching on to Ricky and getting really
close to him.
It's about this time that Ricky Williams agrees to let Peggy manage his
finances.
In his own documentary, he said, money doesn't matter to me.
So this was a guy who really needed to be protected. He wasn't going to pay
attention to his finances.
Peggy doesn't even charge Ricky for her services.
Peggy's whole thing was we have to make sure that your kids are good. Like,
you're a legend, basically, so your kids need to be set up that same way, so let
me help you get to the goal that you need to get to to make sure you're set
life.
Peggy puts the family on a monthly allowance.
The rest of Ricky's income will deposit to a separate account for Peggy to
manage.
The decision gives Peggy free access to the family's finances.
Peggy was going to be sort of the CFO for these players. She was going to help
them with a budget, pay their bills, help them with their investments, and
do their taxes.
She was going to do everything for them.
The following season, Ricky Williams gets traded to the Miami Dolphins.
Peggy? who is now married to a wealthy anesthesiologist, buys a house in Fort
Lauderdale.
And the entire entourage makes the move to South Florida.
She bought a huge house right off the interculto.
So that was Miami for it.
Party.
Party, party, party.
When American Greed returns.
Ricky Williams' popularity soars in South Beach, and Peggy gets free
to the inner circle of celebrity athletes.
She just had a big personality, and mixed with the successful husband, big
house, and the cars, it all looked legitimate.
In 2002, Ricky Williams launches his first season with the Miami Dolphins
superhuman display of force.
The guy was a beast.
Unbelievable, phenomenal athlete.
He was highly coveted and a very physical player, one of the best running
of all time.
Chantel and Ricky are still close.
But their circle of friends has changed.
The wealth -driven lifestyle of Miami's pro ballers make New Orleans look like
the Britney.
Everyone loved Ricky.
He was the hottest thing.
Everyone wanted him at parties, dinners.
Now, 50 -year -old Peggy King is an essential fixture in their lives.
With Peggy the way that she carried herself, she always...
was invited to the different galas or parties, and she was beautiful.
And Ricky's shy, so he could just walk in with her. She takes over, and she
would work the room.
Peggy was the person for Ricky. She was the person he needed in his life to
handle the things he didn't really want to handle.
Peggy takes to the limelight like a natural.
Everybody was giving high fives to her.
There wasn't a time where she would walk into a room or go to a charity event
where people didn't know her.
There were just all these people in her orbit.
Once you get into that orbit, you kind of are vetted and approved in a way.
Peggy and her expanding business, King Management, are even pitched as the
subject of a potential reality show.
Professional athletes get caught up with the material, fancy cars.
Guys who play three years, ten years, it doesn't matter. After they're retired,
within five years, over 75 % of them are completely broke.
My name's Peggy, and I'm the CEO of King Management.
King Management is a company I founded because I wanted to help professional
athletes manage their finances.
But the reality show project never gets off the ground.
By the time Rashad McCants meets Peggy in 2005,
she claims to be representing 31 pro athletes.
I met her right after the championship.
I was in Miami celebrating with the Detroit Piston.
As a star college player, McCants helped the North Carolina Tar Heels win the
national championship.
Now... 21 -year -old McCants is signed on as a first -round draft pick with the
Minnesota Timberwolves.
It's a rookie deal worth $1 .5 million.
When you're at the rookie, the new guy, everyone wants a piece of you because
you're the only one that no one has a piece of, right? You're just like fresh
meat. And while some say Peggy gives off a sisterly vibe... That's how I would
describe her in a family atmosphere.
Rashad calls a distinct flip side to her charm.
But I'll describe her from a male perspective.
Peggy was sexy.
She was attractive.
She was seductive.
She knew how to play on a man's heartstrings. She knew what to do to
guard. So she knew how to switch it. She knew how to go from I'm almost a
stripper
I babysit all the kids.
According to Rashad, Peggy charts out an investment plan, one that not only
safeguards his retirement, but builds generational wealth.
She really sold me on that female person of color entity where, you know, black
woman being in an opportunity to build your wealth and help you become a
billionaire.
Rashad listens to her pitch and likes what he hears.
especially for black athletes, talking about generational wealth, I think is
something that really resonates because when you make millions and millions of
dollars, you'd like to be able to leave some sort of legacy behind.
McCants hires her to manage his investment portfolio.
She had a power of attorney to go into any of my accounts that was set up by
to a bank here in Florida, and my first check came to that account.
Later that fall at the Timberwolves training camp, McCance is baffled when
debit card is declined.
He says he's recently deposited his first six -figure paycheck, and he's
convinced the bank has made a mistake.
Then his agent confirms the money is gone.
He called me and told me, I think Peggy got us, man. So my first full check was
in her pocket.
According to Rashad, when he tries to confront Peggy, She ghosts him entirely.
No email, no return calls, anything. Everything was pretty much far gone from
that point.
Peggy is never charged with any wrongdoing, and she declined to comment
American Greed.
Rashad chalks it up as an expensive rookie mistake and keeps quiet.
I just literally got off stage from being drafted to the Minnesota
I wasn't even thinking about no money at that point. I'm thinking, how do I
become the rookie of the year?
How do I do that?
As Brigade severs ties with Peggy, she sets her sights on much bigger prey.
When American Greed returns, Peggy Fulford aims high and scores an NBA
legend.
Dennis was relying on her for emotional support, and she was relying on him to
afford her very expensive lifestyle.
By 2009,
Peggy King has a growing number of players interested in her promise of
generational wealth.
signs of Peggy's own wealth are on increasingly stunning display.
She always has diamonds on, diamond watches, diamond earrings, and not your
common, like, nice pair of diamond earrings. I'm talking about, you know,
to America type diamond earrings.
She had a five -bedroom waterfront mansion in Fort Lauderdale, marble
with an elevator. She had a fleet of cars, multiple Mercedes -Benzes, a
Maserati, a Bentley.
A Rolls Royce Ghost, a Porsche, completely over the top.
Inside, her home office is decked out with sports memorabilia, including
autographed helmets and signed jerseys.
When Peggy offers to make Chantel Cohen her assistant, Chantel jumps at the
chance. I wanted to be like Peggy. So she said, well, come work for me and
show you the rope.
I thought she would.
Someone that was like my big sister.
And while Peggy is still promising to build generational wealth for her
Chantel Cohen doesn't remember much discussion of trades or investments.
It was more of running errands type things, going to the mall with her,
things that did not help solidify what I was really trying to do in the sports
management world.
Once I didn't get paid, I was like, yeah, no, I'm good.
And although Peggy appears to be extremely successful, people associated
the sports world are beginning to question her motives.
For one, her insistence that she never charges her clients a fee.
I thought it was weird. Like who works for free? Like why would you take on and
deal with ex -wives and the child support office and filing taxes?
My friend played in the NFL.
He had four cars in his driveway.
Peggy had five cars in her driveway.
You don't want your financial advisor having a bigger house than you or having
more cars than you.
It just doesn't add up.
Once you get in the circle, you're sort
of in.
So once Peggy got one foot in the door, she sort of had free reign to meet all
these other athletes.
During this time, Dennis Rodman split ways with the California accounting firm
that handled his affairs and relocates to Miami.
A friend introduces him to Peggy.
From there, Dennis and Peggy became the best of friends.
If you think about it, most...
People who can make it to the professional league have been catered to
time they're about 13 years old.
So in order for them to continue to progress in their athletic career, they
to rely on a lot of other people to help them.
Dennis was one of the guys who needed the most protection out of anyone.
Dennis was going through serious personal issues.
He admits himself he had a serious drinking problem, and he needed somebody
protect him.
All the same, at 47 years old, the NBA legend still carries an incredible
earning power.
He's one of the most recognizable people in the world.
Even to this day, you know, he makes upwards of a million dollars a year. He
hasn't played basketball in almost 20 years.
It was a very symbiotic relationship.
Dennis was relying on her, I think, for emotional.
and I think also for some support in terms of his life organization.
And she was relying on him to afford her very expensive lifestyle.
Peggy puts Dennis on a monthly allowance and creates two joint business
accounts,
Star Rod LLC and the Dennis Rodman Group.
In the ensuing years, Peggy provides a grounding influence on Rodman's
unconventional lifestyle.
They were very, very, very close.
And I think that Peggy knew and understood things that would really
Dennis, just being almost like that motherly figure and someone who's going
look out for his best interest.
And the thing is, is like Dennis is a smart guy, right?
I think that him taking the reins of his own investments, he could have done it.
I just think that he became very comfortable with Peggy doing it for him.
In August of 2011, Dennis Rodman is inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame
Springfield, Massachusetts.
Peggy's arrival at the Springfield Marriott for the ceremony resembles
royalty.
I remember pulling up and Peggy was just arriving.
And then there was two carts, two hotel carts full of LV bags.
First of all, Springfield doesn't see that.
Springfield is a very small town and our claim to fame is the Basketball Hall of
Fame. To see someone roll up with, you know, two carts of LV bags, full length
fur coat, you know, all white, high heels, gigantic diamonds.
It was something that you would see in like a movie. It was amazing.
But Cohen recalls how the stunning portrayal of wealth triggered questions
Rodman's team.
Even for me, who I'm a little jaded from living in South Florida, seeing it
every day, I thought that was over the top.
But Peggy's built a winning strategy by convincing clients that she loves them
like family.
I do care. And after all the lights are turned off and they're not running up
and down the football field or the court, I will be there long after them
because I care. I really do. And that's the difference.
When American Greed returns,
Peggy slips up and the IRS comes knocking.
They'd never received the money and they'd never seen that tax return.
By 2012, plenty of pro athletes consider Peggy King a member of their tribe.
She's won their hearts and taken charge of their finances.
She would give them an allowance.
She'd put them on a budget. So say, OK, I'll give you $5 ,000 a week. Any
previous issues you have with the government or ex -wives or anything
I'll clean all that up.
With everyone, she promised to pay their bills.
She also promised what she called generational wealth building.
That was her thing all the time. Like, I'm looking so far into the future that
you can't even see it.
In October, Rebecca Hilliard, wife of NFL football player Lex Hilliard, meets
Peggy at a birthday party.
Peggy tells her she's a Harvard -educated lawyer with an MBA.
Rebecca later testifies in court.
that they've been swindled by members of their own family.
As a result, their savings have taken a hit.
Peggy's pitch sounds appealing.
As usual, Peggy unselfishly offers her services, free of charge.
She didn't want people to take advantage of these athletes, and that sounded
really good to the Hilliards because they were looking, again, to rebuild
their money, and they wanted some help with that.
But problems are emerging with some of Peggy's longtime clients.
Attorney Bradford Cohen gets a call saying the electricity has been shut off
Dennis Rodman's condo in Florida.
So I called Peggy, and Peggy was like, oh, don't worry, baby, I have to move
some money into a different account, and it should have been paid.
It's around this same time that A .J. Bright says he gets a disturbing call
concerning Rodman.
Dennis has a $5 million life insurance policy that's going to lapse.
The policy is almost at cash value. And Wright is confounded as to why the $18
,000 premium hasn't been paid.
I knew he had the money to pay it. It's $18 ,000.
It's not a lot of money.
What financial advisor or business manager is going to allow a $5 million
to lapse?
Peggy blames Rodman's spending habits and the struggle she faces trying to
manage his accounts.
She was really good at projecting this very calming influence, and she was the
master of the check is in the mail.
By 2013, Kristen Williams is living in Austin, Texas.
Conveniently, Peggy has moved to nearby Houston with yet another husband.
She goes by the name Peggy Fulford.
One morning, Kristen wakes up and discovers she doesn't have enough money
checking account to buy groceries.
Peggy always had an excuse.
She would tell them, oh, no, it's fine, it's a mistake.
It got lost in the mail.
But there had been other episodes when they had noticed things weren't right.
Ricky Williams' car had been stolen while he was visiting Houston.
And when they went to make a claim on their insurance, they found out their
insurance had been canceled.
It was just like her personality was so overbearing with love and everything
that you really didn't want to touch on little stuff that you thought was a red
flag.
Then in October, Christian opens a letter from the IRS.
It's a $377 ,000 bill for unpaid taxes dating back to the year 2010.
The IRS claims she and Ricky took a series of false deductions that led to a
sizable return.
Now, the Williams are on the hook for the illegitimate refund, plus back taxes
and fees.
They'd never received the money, and they'd never seen that tax return.
That's when the floodgates opened and Kristen's mind just started rolling.
we just start going backwards of thinking of things. Like, I remember one
baby moms saying that she didn't get child support this month. And why didn't
have money to pay rent for this month?
Since 2007, Peggy has held control over the vast majority of Ricky's income.
At least $11 million.
The bulk of those funds are nowhere to be found.
Kristen spends months trying to get an explanation from Peggy. But it seems
Peggy's lost interest in their friendship.
Her calls go unanswered.
Peggy's Houston home stands deserted.
Then comes a bombshell revelation.
Ricky's ex -wife, Kristen, calls the bank that was supposed to hold all their
investments and realizes that they don't even have an account there.
Instead, Peggy has used a joint account in Florida to drain $6 million through a
maze of wire transfers, debits, and cash.
On December 16, 2013, Ricky Williams and Kristen filed a civil lawsuit against
Peggy Fulford.
FBI Special Agent Jim Hawkins reads about the case in the Houston sports
I like sports. That's interesting to me. And that's the kind of case that my
squad worked.
White collar crime cases like con men, embezzlers, insiders at banks.
26 years with the FBI tells Agent Hawkins the civil case warrants a
investigation.
It seemed like a slam dunk.
I thought it was a one and done.
But the eventual scope of Peggy Fulford's deception will surprise
was not doing anything that she said she was doing. She was just buying Rolls
Royces and fur coats and diamond earrings.
In January 2014,
Ricky Williams requests a court injunction against Peggy Fulford for
bank records. He claims Peggy has pilfered $6 million from his savings,
defrauded the IRS, and lied about being an attorney and Harvard graduate.
So it was all these lies that she literally played it. And she did it
She played it very well.
The Williamses hand over the few records they have to help launch a federal
investigation.
Paper doesn't lie.
It's like doing a puzzle, and if you can find the paper, you can find the crime.
As we look through them, we would see transactions going to other accounts,
there'd be five or ten other bank accounts that the money from those
went to.
Funds from those accounts funnel to more.
including shell corporations and accounts held by other clients of Peggy
Fulford, like Dennis Rodman.
Money would just be transferred willy -nilly from account to account to
for no business purpose.
Over the next 12 months, their investigation exposes a web of 85 bank
That looked like money laundering, and it was sustained and large.
In addition to Dennis Rodman and Ricky Williams, the FBI learns that former NBA
player Travis Best was one of Peggy's earliest victims.
But one of the most damning transaction links to Peggy's newest victims.
In 2013, Peggy wired $200 ,000 from Lex and Rebecca Hilliard's account in
Montana to purchase a half -acre lot in downtown Houston.
The property is in Peggy's name, and the transfer shows a clear misuse of funds.
It was the real estate transaction here in Houston that gave us venue on that
federal case here.
Agent Hawkins reaches out to schedule a meeting with Dennis Rodman.
It turns out that Rodman's management team is sifting through its own
quagmire related to Peggy.
A Midwest collection agency is attempting to sue Rodman over unpaid
$100 ,000 tax refund.
Everyone was like, wait a minute, what tax return did he get? And why does he
owe these people $30 ,000 on a $100 ,000 tax refund?
We've never seen that money before.
But the NBA all -star has been hesitant to blame his longtime friend.
He had a very, very tight relationship with Peggy.
Anyone that would even mention something bad about Peggy, he got very defensive.
Their meeting with the FBI is a come to Jesus moment, even for Rodman. And you
start seeing, oh, there's a Dennis Rodman LLC that Dennis is not on. He's
the president. He's not a shareholder. This is just an account that's open that
says Dennis Rodman LLC, where Dennis Rodman checks were getting cashed.
Dennis' agency would send Dennis a wire for $90 ,000 at like, say, 10 .30 in the
morning. By 3 o 'clock that same day, all $90 ,000 is swept out of his
and he shows it showing up in one of Peggy's accounts.
I mean, all of it. She wouldn't even leave him a couple hundred dollars for a
loaf of bread. I mean, she took all of it.
In April 2015,
Bradford Cohen sends Peggy a letter terminating her relationship with Dennis
Rodman.
Cohen writes, Although you claim to have a graduate degree from Harvard, it is
more like your resume could be a study in fictional writing at Harvard.
In a response published by the tabloid news site TMZ, Peggy says she never
claimed to be a Harvard grad, and that she's stuck with the athlete through
thick and thin.
By now, most people aren't buying Peggy's claims, and the scrutiny casts
on Peggy Fulford's extravagant lifestyle.
That's when I said it's bigger than us.
I said, she literally has been doing this for a living. Like, it was not just
you, Ricky. Like, she was doing this to everybody.
Next on American Greed, Peggy returns to her hometown of New Orleans and throws
out her last few minutes.
Peggy Fulford is a financial predator.
She looks for prey.
She's looking for someone that she can ingratiate herself with, earn their
trust, and steal their money.
Peggy Fulford has returned to her hometown of New Orleans.
She's burned every bridge with her friends in the sports world.
And some are sick of waiting for the con artist to come clean.
I wanted her to hurt the way that we hurt.
And, you know, just, I wanted to say why in her face.
You know, like, just admit it.
On December 13, 2016, a federal grand jury in Houston indicts Peggy on charges
of mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering.
and interstate transportation of stolen property.
We were ready to finish and also stop her because we knew that she was
out victimizing people every day.
FBI agents arrest Peggy at her apartment in New Orleans.
But during the course of her arrest, an agent sees something that sparks his
curiosity.
A check made out to Peggy Fulford for $197 ,000.
It doesn't take long for federal investigators and local police to
that Peggy Fulford has already pinpointed her next victim.
It turned out that she was now defrauding non -athletes.
She's managed to sweet -talk a local doctor into investing in a real estate
to purchase a shuttered high school in the Lower Ninth Ward and convert it into
a retirement home.
He invested many thousands of dollars, $197 ,000 to be accurate, in that
particular project known as the Holy Cross Project.
There's only one problem, according to Frank Denton, a fraud investigator with
the New Orleans police.
As it turned out upon investigation, the property was not for sale.
The arrest comes just in the nick of time.
If the New Orleans FBI had arrested her one day later, That money would have
been deposited.
That money would have been gone.
On February 1st, 2018, Peggy Fulford cuts a deal with a district attorney in
Houston. She pleads guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen
property.
She's released on bond and placed under probational supervision.
But over the weeks leading up to the sentencing hearing, Peggy stays busy.
Her final scam comes to the attention of prosecutors at the 11th hour.
I was busy and we were preparing for the sentencing the next day and I got a
message on my voicemail at work.
It's from an engineer in New Orleans named Ray Thompson.
Just days before, he succumbed to get another of Peggy's convincing cons.
He'd been working in Saudi Arabia to rebuild his life because he had lost
everything after Katrina.
And she convinced him that for a $25 ,000 investment, they were going to make
lot of money together.
That, I think, really was the nail in the coffin about whether she was going
stop or not or whether she's capable of stopping.
In retrospect, Rashad McCants believes he got off easy.
But he says scammers are prevalent in the world of pro sports.
Hundreds of people around pulling at you, picking at you.
And you finally feel like you meet somebody that you connect with.
And, you know, they have an ulterior motive.
And they'll do anything to cover that ulterior motive up until they see the
and they can pick it up and walk out the room with it. Ricky Williams, Dennis
Rodman, and other players declined American Greed's request for interviews.
Rodman did offer a message via his friend A .J. Bright.
It makes me sad I trusted someone I considered family to manage my money and
they did terribly wrong by me.
I hope other athletes and celebrities can learn from this experience.
When I read this, I definitely can feel the pain in those words
because Dennis really trusted Peggy.
Chantel Cohen can sympathize too.
For someone to be in your inner circle for that long to do something like that
to somebody that Ricky is one of the nicest people that I ever met in my
So for someone to do that to him, I think you're sick.
Something's wrong with you.
In 2018, Peggy Fulford pleads guilty to one charge of interstate transportation
of stolen property.
As part of her sentencing, the judge orders more than $3 million in
to Ricky Williams, more than $1 .2 million to Dennis Rodman, $1 .3
million to Travis Best, and $132 ,000 to former NFL player Lex
Hilliard.
Regardless of the big money professional athletes earn, Chase Carlson says this
kind of fraud is devastating for players.
A lot of their lifetime earnings are packed into a short period of time. If
get ripped off at the end of their career, there's no time to recoup that
because their playing contracts are over.
In the end, Peggy Fulfer, the woman prosecutors call a financial predator,
receives a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
As I told the judge when he sentenced her, she's probably not going to stop. I
mean, she'll be 70 years old when she gets out.
Hopefully I'm wrong. I really hope I'm wrong.
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