Former Giants Receiver Earns Additional 27 Months in Prison

By Alicia Cruz

The Black Urban Times

Former wide receiver for the New York Giants, Mark Ingram, had an additional 27 months added to his jail sentence for failing to surrender to authorities in December 2008 to begin serving time on his bank fraud and money laundering conviction. He was later found in a Michigan hotel room and arrested on January 3, 2009.

In his statement to the court, Ingram acknowledged that many of his fellow athletes develop of a sense of entitlement mentality due to their star-athlete status, but he assured the court that he did not suffer from any such sense of grandeur.

Ingram, 44 said he failed to turn himself over to law enforcement in 2008 because he simply wanted to see his 2009 Heisman Trophy-winning son, Mark Ingram Jr play that night.
The former wide receiver's son is star running back for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team.

"I acknowledge what I did was absolutely wrong," said Ingram said to Judge Arthur Platt before the sentencing inside a federal courtroom in Central Islip, LI.

Before sentencing Ingram, judge Arthur Platt said, "I do this with a heavy heart. You and your family have contributed a great deal to sports. It tears my heart out that its ending up this way."
In addition to the 27 months judge Platt added to his sentence, Ingram will have to serve 92 months for the original money laundering and bank fraud charges he was convicted of.

He admitted in court that he laundered approximately $100,000 for a drug dealer and cashed a $130,000 stolen check in Florida.

The elder Ingram has had a strong of run-ins with law enforcement since his retirement from the NFL in 1996 beginning with his 2001 Federal conviction for possession of counterfeit money. he was sentenced to six-months in federal prison.

In 2004 he served a year in the pokey after he was found guilty of stealing a credit card from a Michigan golf course. Then, in 2007 he was accused of attempted purse snatching after police say he tried to swipe a purse from a parked car in Michigan. The charge was later dismissed for a lack of evidence.

Throughout his tenure with the NFL, Ingram, an Illinois native, played for the Miami Dolphins, the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles. His lawyer stated that Ingram Sr is extremely close to his son with whom he speaks to everyday.

Ingram Jr seems to have quite an illustrious career on the horizon with the NFL. In January, Ingram Jr was named Offensive MVP after Alabama won the National BCS Championship.

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