OK, I admit the entire reason for this post is the above headline. Self high-five, etc. Former UConn star Tate George, found guilty of fraud in a Ponzi scheme that victimized (among others) former Huskies teammate Charlie Villanueva, chose to represent himself at this week’s sentencing hearings. From The Harford Courant’s Christopher Keating :
George, who has not attended law school, was instructed at various times Wednesday about sentencing rules.
Both the judge and the prosecution questioned the relevance of some of his questions, including those related to the FBI agent’s lack of expertise in real estate.
“The relevancy is the government hasn’t done an investigation of why the money was spent the way it was,” George responded. “I’m trying to build the relevancy on why the money was spent the way it was.”
George argued that prosecutors and federal agents lacked a “complete picture” of all of the transactions in his real estate business and focused too much on Simsbury Bank records that showed money being withdrawn from various accounts after investors’ money was deposited.
At another point, the judge told George that some questions were going “far afield” and that the process was taking too long.
“Don’t argue with the witness,” the judge told George at another time. “You can argue otherwise, but not with the witness.”
George, 47, has fought his battle largely alone. No high-profile members of the UConn basketball community, including former coach Jim Calhoun, current coach Kevin Ollie or any former players, attended the trial or Wednesday’s sentencing proceedings.