Michael Bennett, a former NFL first-round pick, was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading no contest to felonies, including burglary and identity theft, per Filipa Ioannou of SFGate.com.
Bennett, who is 38, “was sentenced for charges related to a 2015 incident in which he fraudulently took out $225,000 worth of loans in the name of his girlfriend’s parents, according to the Sonoma County district attorney’s office.”
“The defendant used a position of trust within this victim’s family to exploit and take advantage of them,” District Attorney Jill Ravitch said in a statement.
Originally a first-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings in 2001 (No. 17 overall), the former Wisconsin track and football star spent 10 years in the league. Playing for five teams total, finishing his career with the Oakland Raiders in 2010, he totaled 4,997 yards from scrimmage while scoring 19 touchdowns throughout his career.