An ex-NFL linebacker who formerly lived in Los Angles County was sentenced Monday to two years and six months in federal prison for running a Ponzi scheme in which he conned victims out of more than $5 million by falsely telling them he was involved in lucrative luxury real estate investments, gold mines in Alaska and Ghana, and other ventures, and promising them high rates of return on their investments.
John Robert Leake, 43, of Plano, Texas, but who formerly resided in Marina del Rey, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter, who also ordered him to pay $5.3 million in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Leake pleaded guilty in September 2024 in L.A. federal court to one count of wire fraud and one count of transactional money laundering, court papers show.
From June 2015 to March 2020, Leake solicited money from victims by falsely claiming that he was participating in multiple lucrative business ventures, including subletting luxury real estate properties and real estate investing. Leake offered his victims the opportunity to loan him funds for him to invest in these purported ventures in exchange for a high rate of return, evidence shows.
In fact, the investment opportunities often were fabricated and non-existent and were devised by Leake to defraud victims and trick them into giving him money.
Prosecutors said Leake duped victims by lying that he had invested large amounts of his own money in the purported business ventures he promoted. Leake rarely invested his own money into them.
Once in receipt of the victim’s money, Leake — without the victims’ knowledge or consent — used some of the funds to pay his own personal expenses, including credit card bills, car payments, rent, and gambling expenses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
To continue his scam, federal prosecutors said, Leake also used some of the victims’ money to lull victims by making purported “interest” and “capital” payments on the promissory notes. Leake used a small amount of his personal funds to make these payments.
In total, Leake fraudulently received more than $8.1 million from six victims, causing them a total loss of about $5.3 million, court papers show.
Leake split the 2005 NFL season between the Atlanta Falcons and the Green Bay Packers, according to ESPN.