TRENTON, N.J., Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Irving Fryar, a wide receiver who played 17 seasons in the NFL, was charged Wednesday in New Jersey with conspiring with his mother in mortgage fraud.
The state attorney general said Fryar, 51, and Allene McGhee, 72, obtained five mortgages during one week in 2009 on McGhee's home in Willingboro, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported. An indictment handed up by a grand jury in Trenton said Fryar lied on the mortgage applications, claiming he received a large salary from New Jerusalem House of God, a church he founded in Mount Holly.
Acting Attorney General John Hoffman said McGhee and Fryar neglected to tell any of the banks about their other mortgage applications.
"This is not a case in which Mr. Fryar and his mother simply omitted or misstated information on loan applications," Hoffman said. "This indictment alleges that they engaged in an elaborate criminal scheme that was designed to defraud these banks of hundreds of thousands of dollars."
Fryar -- an all-American at Nebraska -- was the first played selected in the 1984 draft. He played in the NFL from 1984 to 2000 with the New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins.
He was hired in March as head football coach of Robbinsville High School outside of Trenton. School officials say he will almost certainly be fired.
