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Former San Diego Chargers great Ron Mix, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Missouri to a tax fraud charge stemming from his post-football career as a California workers compensation lawyer. Mix, 78, faces a potential sentence of three years in prison and $250,000 fine. Mix agreed to pay $49,543 in restitution to the IRS.

Mix has been a successful workers compensation lawyers since his retirement from the game. Many of his clients are former professional athletes who made claims for injuries suffered during their playing days, usually years after their careers ended. Mix filed about 300 such cases in the final month before the law changed in late 2013, according to news reports at the time. But this federal criminal case was prosecuted in Kansas City because some of the clients referred to Mix lived in the Western District of Missouri. None of their names was released.

According to the plea agreement filed in federal court attorney Mix admitted the following, “Between October 18, 2010 and December 16, 2013 in the Western District of Missouri and elsewhere, the defendant, RONALD JACK MIX (“MIX”), doing business as the LAW OFFICES OF RON MIX, entered into an arrangement whereby INDIVIDUAL F, who is not an attorney, would refer professional athletes to MIX and the LAW OFFICES OF RON MIX, so that defendant, MIX, could file workers’ compensation claims in the state of California on behalf of these former professional athletes. MIX then agreed to make donations to a charity as directed by INDIVIDUAL F. The charity was THE SIXTH MAN FOUNDATION d/b/a PROJECT CONTACT AFRICA (“PCA”), a federally-registered tax exempt 501(c)(3) charity. The individuals referred were in need of the services provided by MIX, he was well-qualified to perform these services, and he properly performed the services to the individuals who were referred.”

“MIX admits that he wrote checks out of his personal bank account and his law firm’s bank account to the charity as directed by INDIVIDUAL F while the latter made referrals of potential workman’s compensation cases. These donative payments ranged anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000. Mix admits that some of the professional athletes referred to him by INDIVIDUAL F, resided in the Western District of Missouri, so that he could file workers’ compensation claims in the state of California on their behalf, which was a proper venue under California law.”

“MIX admits that from 2010 through 2013, he made approximately $155,000 in donations for client referrals.”

“MIX also admits that the payments to PCA were listed as “charitable contributions” on his Form 1040s, U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns, for calendar years 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.” However you cannot make a charitable contribution that is deductible when you get something back in return.

Jean Paul Bradshaw, Mix’s lawyer in Kansas City said Mix was told that the referrals would stop unless he donated more and more money to the charity. Prosecutors said that Mix’s donations ranged between $5,000 and $25,000.

The practice of paying a non-lawyer a fee for a referral is known as “capping,” and is illegal in California. Mix’s guilty plea will have to be reported to the State Bar. It is not clear at this time what action the California State Bar may take as a result of this plea agreement.

In exchange for his plea, the government agreed “not to bring any additional charges against defendant for any federal criminal offenses related to conspiracy to defraud the IRS or the United States, wire fraud, mail fraud, or filing a false tax return, or any other charge related to the conduct set forth in Paragraph 3 of this plea agreement for which it has venue and which arose out of the defendant’s conduct described above.”