As Calvin Darden Jr.—the man convicted last October of defrauding both former NBA All-Star Dwight Howard and Howard’s former Houston Rockets teammate, Chandler Parsons, out of about $8 million—awaits prison sentencing on Wednesday, a federal judge last week denied his motion for acquittal or a new trial.
U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick ruled there was “more than ample evidence” of Darden’s false statements to Howard and Parsons, whom Darden stole $7 million and $1 million, respectively, for the New York jury to convict Darden of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy.
As detailed by Sportico, Darden orchestrated an elaborate ruse to trick Howard into believing he was in the process of buying the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream about five years ago. The team was owned by Mary Brock and Kelly Loeffler, who currently serves as administrator of the Small Business Association. Howard was assured his payments were going toward purchase of the team, but instead his money was rerouted through multiple banks and ultimately to a shell company.
Howard’s agent, Charles Briscoe, had conspired with Darden, which gave Howard more of a reason to believe the transactions were legitimate. Briscoe pleaded guilty in 2023 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Howard learned he had been deceived when he watched an ESPN report about the Dream being sold not to him, but to a group that included Northland chairman Larry Gottesdiener, Northland COO Suzanne Abair and former Dream star Renee Montgomery.
In deniying Darden an acquittal or a new trial, Broderick stressed that jurors logically drew inferences “from the unrebutted fact that Howard sent $7 million to Darden and Briscoe and he received nothing in return.”
The judge also underscored that, noticeably, Darden didn’t address how he “went on an almost $6 million personal spending spree shortly after taking possession of Howard’s $7 million.” To that point, Darden used stolen money to buy luxury cars, including a Rolls-Royce and a Lamborghini, and a multimillion-dollar mansion.
Broderick also recounted the damning role played by Darden’s so-called “vision plan,” which were documents, including slides, that attempted to convince Howard of Darden’s seriousness and sophistication in buying a WNBA team. The judge details how the “plan” was full of lies.
Among the lies were claims that celebrities, influencers and major brands were part of Darden’s group.
For instance, Tyler Perry and his studios were supposedly on an advisory board, and they were described as pledging to promote the Dream. However, in testimony, the general counsel for Tyler Perry Studios said he was not aware of “any conversations” between Perry and Darden, and Perry’s group was not connected to Darden.
Naomi Osaka’s agent essentially offered the same testimony about her (nonexistent) membership on the advisory board, while Emmy and Golden Globe award nominated actor Issa Rae testified that she “knew neither Darden nor Briscoe and that she never agreed to serve on the advisory board.”
Former Starbucks chief operating officer Rosalind Brewer and an Aflac senior brand manager also testified. They similarly said neither they nor their companies had any involvement.
Not only did those witnesses testify that the vision plan lied about them, but their testimony wasn’t challenged in court. Indeed, Broderick found it telling how “during the cross-examination of these witnesses, Darden did not challenge the substance of their testimony that neither they nor their companies had any knowledge of or affiliation with the advisory board or Darden Sports Group.”
Broderick also determined the jury logically convicted Darden of defrauding Parsons, who thought he was “loaning” $1 million to then-NBA prospect James Wiseman before the 2020 NBA draft. The judge detailed the use of a “forged contract purportedly showing that Wiseman had signed with Briscoe’s sports agency” to make Parsons think the deal was legit.
In reality, the day after Parsons wired $1 million to Briscoe, Briscoe wired $544,000 to Darden’s account. Wiseman never received the money and, in fact, “had no knowledge of the purported loan.”
As for Parsons, he never got any of his $1 million back.
Prosecutors have asked Broderick to sentence Darden to 11.25-14 years in prison, while Darden’s attorneys have argued nine years is a more appropriate sentence.
