Former Titans player sentenced for scheme

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SANTA ANA, Calif., Nov. 17 (UPI) -- A former Tennessee Titans player has been sentenced to 57 months for bilking investors out of $5 million in a Ponzi scheme.

Reed Kyle Diehl caused "extraordinary" damage to his victims, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter said Monday at a hearing in Santa Ana, The Orange County Register reported. Diehl, 31, of Coto de Caza admitted in July that he took money from nine people, promising them high returns through secured loans to condominium developers and others in Mexico.

In fact, prosecutors said in a filing when Diehl pleaded guilty, there were no returns.

"Instead, much of the investors' funds were used by defendant to make payments of interest and/or principal to earlier investors, or were withdrawn by defendant's lifestyle and activities,'' a court document said.

Diehl was a football star at the University of California at Berkeley, then played briefly for the Titans. He was an alumnus of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana and was an assistant coach there for a year after leaving the Titans.