Randolph Morris indicted for not reporting $13 million earned playing in China

(Photo by Visual China Group via Getty Images/Visual China Group via Getty Images)

Former Kentucky Basketball player Randolph Morris was indicted yesterday on federal charges for failing to report more than $13 million he earned while playing professionally in China from 2010 to 2017.

A federal grand jury in Lexington returned an 11-count indictment against Morris, who played at Kentucky from 2004 to 2007 before heading to the NBA, and eventually, the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). If you remember your mid-aughts UK Basketball history, Morris actually declared for the 2005 NBA Draft, but after going undrafted, was able to return to the team when Tubby Smith found an old fax on his desk from Morris saying he only intended to test the waters instead of leaving for good and signing with an agent.

The wire fraud counts allege Morris submitted false income information to the Kentucky Department of Revenue, for the 2015, 2016 and 2017 tax years, when he played for the Beijing Ducks. By failing to report his income from the CBA during those years, the FBI says Morris deprived the state of Kentucky of more than $400,000 in tax revenue. The remaining eight counts allege that Morris failed to report his earnings from the Beijing Ducks on his federal 1040 and 1040A forms, for the years 2010 through 2017.

Morris faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on each wire fraud count. For the counts of making false statements on tax returns, he faces a maximum prison sentence of three years. A date for his appearance in federal court has not yet been scheduled.

[Department of Justice]