More Trouble for Ex-Gamecock Great Rick Sanford

On top of his sentencing for bankruptcy fraud last week, ex-Gamecock football great Rick Sanford of Lexington has been sentenced to two years' probation for fraudulent billing, according to the Associated Press.

Sanford, 54, who runs a chiropractic practice in Irmo, was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to billing insurance providers for services he never performed, said state Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Sanford's latest troubles come on the heels of his guilty plea last Friday in federal court of lying about his assets in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing in 2009. Sanford admitted he had omitted his one-quarter share in a Vail, Colo. condo he had sold for $70,000, U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles said. As part of his filing, Sanford was required by law to disclose all his assets. He has since withdrawn his petition and his debts have not been discharged.

For his bankruptcy subterfuge, Sanford could have faced several years in prison and a hefty fine. In return for his guilty plea, Senior U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Perry, Jr., sentenced Sanford to two-years' probation, 30 days of home confinement, and 100 hours of community service.

A college All-American in 1978, Sanford made USC history in 1979 when he became the first USC player to ever be selected in the first round of the NFL draft. Sanford played for the New England Patriots and was named to the 1983 All-Pro team. The play for which he is best remembered is a 1982 interception at Chicago’s Soldier Field that he returned a record 99 yards for a touchdown. In 1998, he was elected to the S.C. Athletic Hall of Fame.

Once out of football, Sanford parlayed his sports career into a chiropractic practice, which he started in 1990. By February 2009, when he filed for bankruptcy, Sanford had accumulated assets of $2.1 million and liabilities of $2.8 million, according to papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of South Carolina. At the time, Sanford declared under penalty of perjury that his listing of assets and liabilities was accurate.

"However, three months later, in May 2009, the U.S. trustee in the matter filed a complaint against Sanford, alleging he made misrepresentations about his financial status and that he “knew or should have known” he didn’t report everything he should have in his original filing," The State reported earlier this year.