Who is Calvin Darden Jr.? All you need to know about the man who scammed Dwight Howard off $7 million
This week, Calvin Darden Jr. was found guilty of scamming Dwight Howard out of $7 million, and Chandler Parsons out of $1 million in two separate scams. On Friday, a jury in New York found Darden Jr. guilty of the two schemes.
One of these saw him scam money out of Howard under the guise of an attempt to buy the Atlanta Dream.
This isn't the first time that Calvin Darden Jr. has been convicted of scamming money out of professional athletes. As it turns out, he is the son of Calvin Darden Sr., who intelligencer describes as "A former executive at UPS and a board member for Coca-Cola and Target."
Back in 2005, while working for Merrill Lynch, a US-based stocks company, Darden Jr. was found guilty of scamming money out of former New York Knicks player Latrell Spreewell and musician Nelly. At the time, he impersonated his father in order to attempt to buy a magazine company.
The deal never came to fruition and Calvin Darden Jr. was able to scam money out of Spreewell and Nelly, resulting in a 4-to-12-year jail sentence when he was eventually convicted in 2016. However, in exchange for cooperating against his co-conspirators, he received a reduced sentence.
As it turns out, he wound up using the money he collected to buy a massive home, complete with a shark-infested aquarium and a movie theatre. In addition, he amassed a collection of cars, complete with a Lamborghini luxury coupé, as well as a Mercedes.
Looking at similarities between Calvin Darden Jr.'s previous case and latest legal troubles with Dwight Howard and Chandler Parsons
Much like he did in 2005, Darden's recent scheme, which involved Dwight Howard and Chandler Parsons, saw him collect money from the athletes before then using it to fund a lavish lifestyle.
Calvin Darden Jr. convinced Dwight Howard that the $7 million he gave him was going towards a deal to purchase the Atlanta Dream. Chandler Parsons, on the other hand, was told that his $1 million was going to help fund the development of James Wiseman.
Instead, Darden used the money to buy a home in Atlanta, two luxury cars and other extravagant items. Instead of cooperating in exchange for a plea bargain, the con artist decided to take his chances with a trial.
After being found guilty on Friday, Darden will return to court sometime next year, according to ABC, and will be free on bail between now and then. When he returns to court, however, the expectation is that he could wind up facing between 11 and 14 years in prison for his crimes due to his status as a repeat offender.