Former NFL star Andre Rison, who recently shared his story (below) on how he went from being extremely wealthy to broke, escaped a prison term last month when a federal judge gave him a break for violating probation.
Prosecutors with the Arizona U.S. Attorney’s Office wanted to put Rison behind bars for at least 15 months for failing to live up to a 2012 agreement to pay $322,000 in past-due child support.
According to the Phoenixnewtimes.com, the judge on the case, Judge Susan Bolton, who was possibly swayed by the fact that Rison’s baby momma, Racquel Blanks of Chandler, didn’t want Rison to go to prison, didn’t hand down any “serious consequence” to Rison.
Instead, the judge merely extended the five-year probation term from his 2012 non-payment case by one year. That agreement requires Rison to pay Blanks $1,000 a month in child support — and that’s on top of a monthly payment of $2,358.86 in child support ordered by the Jackson County, Missouri, civil court in a separate case.
On ESPN’s “Broke” documentary, the former NFL star Rison shared his story of how he went from being extremely wealthy to broke.
Via Mlive.com:
“I guarantee I spent a million dollars on jewelry,” Rison said, in the documentary.
“Now all of a sudden you’ve got this bank account you control. You can go to it, pull out anytime, put in any time, but at the time we were only pulling out,” Rison said in the documentary, adding that he lost back-to-back houses at one point during his career.
Rison told tales of buying multiple cars within the course of the season where teammates tried to upstage each other by rolling up to practice with the sharpest ride.
“How much is this one? It doesn’t matter, just get it,” said Rison about his attitude when making car purchases.
“The first time I got my check and I saw there was a big chunk taken out of it, I went straight upstairs (to the team office) and that’s when I found out about taxes and everything,” Rison said.
Rison, who has had multiple court charges and paternity suit issues since his playing career ended, admitted to extreme moments of frivolous spending. Whether it be houses, cars or nights out in the clubs, money was no object.
Showing off in clubs was one of Rison’s biggest vices.
“We were going to new levels,” Rison said. “We were making it snow. You start throwing $100 bills instead of fives. So you’ve got a competition going on now.
“I’d be lying on the bed knocked out (after getting back from the club) with $10,000 lying on the floor. I’ve got another $5,000 in my pocket. You might find another $7,500 in the pocket in my coat.”
Rison also said his entourage grew to as many as 40 people, all of whom he said lived off his money when out on the town.
Rison was forced to declare bankruptcy because of overdue child support debts in 2007.
“When you have cash, you create debt,” Rison said. “You spend until you’ve got nothing left… I should have saved a lot more money. I should have saved a lot more money.”
Watch the preview video below:
In case you don’t remember, Rison started dating the late TLC group member Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes around 1993.
In June 1994, a Rison and Lopez got into a physical altercation at Rison’s Atlanta mansion.
In response, Lopes threw his shoes into the tub with the intention of burning them, while keeping the blaze contained in the bathroom. Unfortunately, the fire spreaded throughout the whole house, resulting in the loss of all his possessions including the house.
Despite the damage done, they remained a couple. Their relationship was off and on until her death in 2002.
1st Photo Credit: ESPN
2nd Photo Credit: SFTA
