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Texas man sentenced to prison for 3.1 million dollar NBA Ponzi scheme

Timothy France Johnson was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison after running an 11-year scam involving fake NBA preseason game promotions.

FTMQ News, written by our newsroom25 October 2026 at 03:100 views

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Picture: UPI

A Texas man has been sentenced to federal prison for operating a 3.1 million dollar Ponzi scheme that falsely promised returns on NBA preseason games, UPI reported. Timothy France Johnson, aged 63, of El Paso, received a 51-month sentence on Friday. He was also ordered to pay a money judgment of 3.1 million dollars. [1]

According to prosecutors cited by UPI, Johnson spent 11 years persuading investors to give him money to promote NBA preseason basketball games. He used incoming funds to pay off earlier investors and cover personal expenses. Johnson also created fake contracts to sustain the fraud. [1]

Financial scams involving sports and other industries continue to draw federal sentences. As FTMQ News reported earlier, Richard Teplitsky pleaded guilty in federal court to running a 54 million dollar Ponzi scheme through Woodhill Capital Corporation over nearly three decades. Additionally, FTMQ News previously reported that Miami gallery owner Leslie Howard Roberts was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for a 2.6 million dollar fake art scheme. [5][6]

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In short

Timothy France Johnson was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison.
The 3.1 million dollar Ponzi scheme ran for 11 years.
Johnson promised investors profits from promoting NBA preseason games.

Sources

Every paragraph above points to the numbered items it rests on. Read the originals here.

[1]Texas man sentenced to prison in $3.1 million NBA Ponzi schemeUPI, 1h ago (the report this story comes from)

Background

[2]Pablo Torre (journalist) on Wikipedia
[3]List of longest prison sentences on Wikipedia
[4]Texas on Grokipedia
[5]New York investment firm president admits running 54 million dollar Ponzi scheme FTMQ News, 7h ago
[6]Florida art dealer jailed for selling fake Andy Warhol artworks FTMQ News, 7d ago

Our newsroom writes these reports with the help of software, from the 6 sources listed and nothing else, and checks them against those sources. Facts can still be wrong or move on; the originals are the record. Spotted a mistake? Write to daniel@monsterkong.com.

Earlier reports of ours on the same people and subjects.

Florida art dealer jailed for selling fake Andy Warhol artworksTop Stories, 7d ago
New York investment firm president admits running 54 million dollar Ponzi schemeTop Stories, 7h ago
Oklahoma chiropractor receives 14 year prison sentence for healthcare fraudTop Stories, 15d ago
Chinese court sentences three Myanmar scam gang members to deathTop Stories, 11d ago
Federal agents arrest father and son in billion dollar fraud schemeTop Stories, 5h ago

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