A former professional basketball player was just sentenced in federal court on charges related to an extensive charity fraud scheme.

Kermit Alan Washington, 66, of Las Vegas, Nevada., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays six years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Washington to pay $967,158 in restitution. Washington was taken into federal custody at the conclusion of his sentencing hearing.

Washington played for five NBA teams in the 1970s and 1980s. Washington may be best known for knocking out Houston’s Rudy Tomjanovich with a devastating punch in a 1977 game

He was with the Los Angeles Lakers when he hit Tomjanovich in what has since been remembered as “The Punch.” Washington was suspended for 60 days after Tomjanovich was hospitalized for several injuries — a fractured skull, broken jaw, broken nose and leakage of spinal fluid. He eventually needed surgery to reconstruct his face.

Washington admitted in federal court that he referred professional athletes to attorney Ronald Jack Mix, 80, of San Diego, Calif., so that Mix could file workers’ compensation claims in the state of California on behalf of the athletes. Mix then agreed to make donations to Washington’s charity, as well as a PayPal fraudulent charity scheme and other offenses.

Washington accepted approximately $155,000 in donations to his charity, which were actually illegal referral payments from Mix and his law firm. Washington diverted those funds from the charity’s bank account to pay himself or for personal spending. Washington admitted that he failed to account for this income to the charity on Project Contact Africa’s IRS filings during those years.

Former San Diego Chargers great Ron Mix, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, pleaded guilty back in 2016 in federal court in Missouri to a tax fraud charge stemming from his post-football career as a workers compensation lawyer.

He was a former offensive lineman who played for the Chargers from 1960 to 1969 and then two years for the Oakland Raiders, 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. State Bar records reflect he is no longer eligible to practice law in California.

Federal prosecutors said that Mix got referrals for clients from Washington, a non-lawyer. He would then file claims on behalf of those clients. In return, Mix donated to a charity called Project Contact Africa. He then claimed those donations as charitable deductions on his tax forms, court records show. The government says the donations were payments for the referrals, and should not have been claimed as deductions.

Mix’s lawyer argued that Mix thought Washington’s charity was legitimate. Mix represented many older athletes who did not make the kind of money in their day that athletes make today.