Basketball Jones

Former Harlem Globetrotter and NC State point guard gets seven years for a Covid-19 loan scam

“I need someone to set a pick for me at the free-throw line of life.” – Cheech & Chong

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Every athlete will one day get a tap on a shoulder that means, “You can’t play this game anymore.”

For most of us, this disappointment comes early because, let’s face it, we suck. For the more athletic, it comes later, due to competition, injuries or aging.

When it happens, it’s good to have another dream lined up. For former Harlem Globetrotter Quentin Allen Jackson, 58, that dream was ripping off the government.

Prosecutors say he scored about $4 million in fraudulent Paycheck Protection Act loans during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Leveraging his team-building skills, he helped put together a whole roster of PPP fraudsters – including 26 other defendants who’ve already been sentenced and five others who await sentencing.

For this, Jackson received seven years in prison last week. and he was ordered to pay $3 million in restitution.

“Yes, I am the victim of a Basketball Jones. Ever since I was a baby, I always be dribblin’.” – Cheech & Chong. (Illustration: AI generated.)

Tyrone Shoelaces

Jackson, who plead guilty in November 2022, was point guard for the North Carolina State University Wolfpack when it won the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1987. He played for the Harlem Globetrotters from 1988 to 1990, entertaining people around the world with amazing basketball tricks. He returned to NC State as director of basketball operations from 2006 to 2008.

His LinkedIn page says he also tried his hand at Xerox sales, executive coaching, and developing a networking platform for student athletes … but it all sounds so boring for a guy who may have had what Cheech & Chong have identified as a “Basketball Jones.”

Here’s how U.S. Attorney Michael F. Easley, Jr. put it in a news release:

“As a college point guard and Harlem Globetrotter, Jackson’s crossover was deadly. But he drew a foul when he used his talents and reputation to recruit people into a multi-million-dollar fraud on our nation’s pandemic relief program. This seven-year prison sentence should stand as a warning to anyone who took advantage of our nation’s generosity in a time of need. We are patient, persistent, and willing to use every second on the shot clock.”

OK, enough with the basketball puns, Mr. Federal Prosecutor. We get it. It was a slam-dunk case.

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