Gilbert Arenas' assistant convicted of stealing over 2.1 million dollars

Ex- NBA player Gilbert Arenas

John A White, the personal assistant of ex-NBA star Gilbert Arenas was convicted on Wednesday of stealing more than 2.1 million dollars from the latter. 40-year-old White was found guilty by a federal jury on 11 counts of wire fraud.The money stolen from Arenas did not show up on White and his wife’s joint tax returns during that time, adding four counts of filling a false tax-related document to White’s chargesheet.

The case was built by criminal investigators from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) while being assisted by the U.S Secret Service. Every count of wire fraud counts for a maximum of 20 years in federal prison, on the other hand each count of false document accounts for a maximum of 3 years in prison. White was indicted last April and could face “dozens of years” (per the Associated Press) in prison when he will be sentenced in November. 

According to prosecutors, the money White stole from Arenas was used to buy sports cars (Ferrari and Range Rover) and pay the mortgage paymetns on his house in Windmere, Florida.  

Gilbert Arenas was a 3-time NBA All-Star who played 12 seasons in the league from 2001 to 2012 for teams such as the Golden State Warriors, Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies. Post 2012, Arenas played a season in Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) for the Shanghai Sharks. Although he hasn’t played a NBA regular season game since 2012, he is still getting paid by the Orlando Magic as he indicates in an interview with the ESPN the Magazine last year:

“Noooo, no, that’s been a fib for awhile. No, when they did the amnesty [clause], when the amnesty came in, I think it was two years ago, what they did was, instead of me getting paid $20 [million] a year, they extended the years and dropped the money down. So instead of getting 20 I was getting 12 for a longer period of time. So I’m still getting paid until 2016.”

Between the years 2005 and 2008, Arenas was among the best players in the league. He made it to three All-NBA teams and 3 NBA All-Star teams during this time span. He holds the NBA record for most points scored (46) when playing under 30 minutes since the creation of the short clock. He also holds the Wizards franchise record for most points in a game (60 against the Los Angeles Lakers).