FLORIDA ATTORNEY’S RACKETEERING CONVICTION FOR DEFRAUDING NFL PLAYERS & OTHER CLIENTS AFFIRMED BY THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA – On January 7, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the conviction and sentence of Phillip Timothy Howard, 64, of Tallahassee, Florida. Howard is serving a 14-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to racketeering (RICO) in 2023. The affirmance was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

United States Attorney Heekin said, “This defendant repeatedly violated the trust placed in him by his clients, enriching himself by defrauding them of millions of dollars, and continued to try to evade accountability for his crimes even after he was found guilty. As this appellate victory makes clear, my office not only zealously advocates for criminal fraud victims at trial, but also ensures our successful prosecutions stick and criminals are held fully accountable.”

Court documents reflect between December 2015 and January 2018, Howard, a Florida attorney, used his Tallahassee law firm Howard & Associates, P.A., to commit wire fraud and money laundering through a racketeering enterprise. Howard defrauded several of his clients, including National Football League players, third-party litigation lenders, and a university professor. In all, Howard fraudulently obtained more than $12 million from his victims.

Howard’s appellate attacks on the validity of his prior guilty plea, the total loss attributable to his fraud scheme, and the severity of his sentence were well-rebutted in briefs filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office defending the conviction and sentence.  Judges on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals fully agreed with the positions of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and affirmed the conviction and sentence in an unpublished opinion without requiring oral argument.

This conviction was the result of a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigations, with assistance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Assistant United States Attorney Jordane New handled the appeal before the Eleventh Circuit. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin M. Keen and former Assistant United States Attorney David P. Byron.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.