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       Former NBA Sebastian Telfair, one of 18 basketball players caught up in a healthcare fraud scheme, has implored President Donald Trump to pardon him as he prepares to report for jail on Tuesday.

       Telfair and the other players named in an October 2021 indictment – including Jamario Moon, Glen “Big Baby” Davis, Tony Allen and Darius Miles – were accused of defrauding the league’s health and welfare benefit plan out of approximately $2.5 million by submitting allegedly fake medical and dental expenses.

       “I know Donald Trump got some big things going on but Donald Trump might need to come holla and give your boy a pardon so I can, you know, stay at home with my babies and continue building my career,” the ex-point guard, 40, told TMZ Sports.

       “Trump, go check in on my story, and you’re definitely going to want to pardon me. You’ll hold me accountable and want me to continue to go do good. But I did too good to be sending anybody to jail.”

       Ex-NBA star Sebastian Telfair will report to jail on Tuesday for breaching the terms of his conditional supervised release after pleading guilty to fraud charges(TMZ Sports)

       Telfair pleaded guilty to his part in the fraud in March 2023 and was sentenced to three years probation but has since been found to have breached the terms of his conditional supervised release.

       It emerged in June that Telfair had not completed his court-ordered community service and had not reported to the U.S. Probation Office, landing himself with six months of prison time.

       A high school star in New York City whose professional career began with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2004 and ended with the Fujian Sturgeons in China in 2017, Telfair told TMZ he believed he had been treated “super unfairly” and described his situation as “definitely some bulls***,” blaming a paperwork error for his plight.

       Telfair also pledged to devote himself to self-improvement behind bars and revealed plans to write a book.

       “I’m definitely mad I put myself in this situation,” he said. “But we definitely have got some wins coming. So, my fans, hold tight.”

       As president, Trump has been generous in handing out pardons, most notably to the more than 1,500 people prosecuted over their part in the Capitol riot of January 6 2021 on his return to the White House in January.

       Other famous names Trump has pardoned include the rappers Lil Wayne, Kodak Black and NBA YoungBoy, the reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley and former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich,

       More recently, he has openly mused about the possibility of granting executive clemency to Sean “Diddy” Combs and Ghislaine Maxwell but has yet to do so in either case.