Ex-NFL star turned pastor goes to trial for mortgage fraud

Another former NFL player will be going to trial next year for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme.

Another day, another former NFL player being tried for mortgage fraud.

Irving Fryar, who played wide receiver for four National Football League teams between 1984 and 2000, and his mother, Allene McGhee, will go to trial next year for mortgage fraud. The news comes on the heels of ex-Vikings player Jimmy Hitchock’s sentencing last month for his role in a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud conspiracy.

Fryar and his mother rejected plea deals Tuesday during a state Superior Court hearing in New Jersey. They're charged with conspiring to steal money through a mortgage scam run by William Barksdale, who has been sentenced to 20 months in federal prison.

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He and his mother are accused of obtaining five loans in a period of six days in 2009, using McGhee’s home in Willingboro, N.J., as collateral. They also allegedly used false information to obtain mortgage loans. Each faces one count of second-degree conspiracy and theft by deception.

Fryar attended the University of Nebraska before being drafted No. 1 in 1984 by the New England Patriots. He also played for the Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins. After his NFL career, Fryar became a pastor and opened a church in New Jersey, according to NJ.com.

The deals called for Fryar and McGhee to plead guilty to theft by deception. Fryar would have received a five-year sentence in a state prison, while his mother would get a three-year term.

Their trial is scheduled to start Feb. 3, 2015.