Ten former NFL players have been charged for their alleged roles in a scheme intended to defraud a health-care program for retired players.

The players charged include three with Alabama football roots -- Robert McCune of LeFlore High School in Mobile, Etric Pruitt of Theodore High School and Carlos Rogers of Auburn.

The U.S. Justice Department announced the charges on Thursday, saying the players targeted the Gene Upshaw NFL Player Health Reimbursement Account Plan, by submitting more than $3.9 million in fraudulent claims. The health-care plan paid more than $3.4 million on those claims between June 2017 and December 2018, the Justice Department said.

After an FBI investigation, the Justice Department filed the charges in the Eastern District of Kentucky. In addition to McCune, Pruitt and Rogers, other former players charged included John Eubanks, Tamarick Vanover, Ceandris Brown, James Butler, Fred Bennett, Correll Buckhalter and Clinton Portis. The Justice Department also filed notice that it intends to charge former players Joe Horn and Reche Caldwell.

The indictments charge that claims were made to the health-care plan for medical equipment, such as hyperbaric oxygen chambers and cryotherapy machines, that was never purchased.

The Justice Department maintains that some of the organizing players offered to submit false claims for other players in exchange for kickbacks and fabricated supporting documents such as invoices and prescriptions. The Justice Department alleges that McCune and Buckhalter impersonated players via telephone when contacting the health-care plan after claims were submitted.

“The defendants are alleged to have developed and executed a fraudulent scheme to undermine a health-care benefit plan established by the NFL -- one established to help their former teammates and colleagues pay for legitimate medical expenses,” said Robert M. Duncan Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. “The defendants allegedly submitted false claims to the plan and obtained money for expensive medical equipment that was never purchased or received, depriving that plan of valuable resources to help others meet their medical needs."

McCune and Rogers were arrested on Thursday morning.

McCune was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health-care fraud, nine counts of wire fraud and nine counts of health-care fraud. McCune, a linebacker who played his college football at Louisville, appeared in eight NFL games between 2005 and 2008.

Pruitt was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health-care fraud. Pruitt, a safety who played his college football at Southern Miss, appeared in nine NFL games over the 2004 and 2005 seasons.

Rogers was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health-care fraud, two counts of wire fraud and two counts of health-care fraud. A cornerback, Rogers won the Thorpe Award as the nation’s best defensive back in 2004 at Auburn. The ninth pick in the 2005 draft, Rogers played in 133 games over 10 NFL seasons and was a Pro Bowl selection in 2011.

“This investigation serves as an illustration of the rampant and deliberate scams against health-care plans occurring daily throughout the country,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the Miami Field Office in a statement released by the Justice Department. “In this case, these fraudsters pocketed money from the Gene Upshaw National Football League Health Reimbursement Account Plan that was intended for former NFL players who are ill or infirm. Over 20 FBI field offices participated in this investigation, which demonstrates the level of commitment we have to rooting out this type of fraud.”

The FBI in Birmingham and Mobile participated in the investigation.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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