GRAND RAPIDS – Former NBA great Earvin “Magic” Johnson is defending friend and Michigan State University teammate Jay Vincent who faces prison in a fraud scheme.

Johnson asked the judge to “have mercy” on his friend.

The government has recommended that Vincent serve nine years in prison – the minimum under advisory sentencing guidelines.

Vincent, 52, is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday by U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker.

The government said Vincent's business, Foreclosure Bank Inspection Co., advertised for inspectors of foreclosed homes. The company required prospective inspectors to pay $149 for non-existent insurance coverage and $89 for a background check.

Investigators identified 18,000, many of who paid the $238 fee. No one was hired.

Vincent acknowledges victims lost about $1 million, said his attorney, Thomas Clement. The attorney asked that Vincent, who earned $11 million in his NBA career, be placed on probation so that he can earn money pay restitution.

Vincent is held in federal custody after he surrendered his bond in late July in response to allegations he continued a fraudulent scheme that could lead to additional charges in Indiana, records showed.

In his letter to the court, Johnson said he has known Vincent “since we were little kids growing up in Lansing.”

He asked the judge to consider giving Vincent a “second chance and a light sentence” so that he could “reclaim his dignity and rejoin his family.”

He said he and Vincent were friends growing up, often playing basketball together.

“We were not only teammates at Michigan State where we won the 1979 NCAA Championship together, but we were roommates,” Johnson wrote. “And that's where I really got to know him. Jay was an incredible teammate with a tremendous heart. He got his motivation and determination from his close knit God-fearing family and was always focused on best and player he could be.”

He acknowledged that Vincent did wrong, and hoped Vincent would pay victims back.

“With all due respect to the parties involved, and my heart goes out to them, I ask again that you consider his time served and have mercy on him and not allow this one incident of bad decision making to change the course of his life.”

E-mail John Agar: jagar@grpress.com