Ex-Brown's LB Mychal Kendricks pleads guilty to insider trading
PHILADELPHIA - Former Cleveland Browns linebacker Mychal Kendricks has pleaded guilty to insider trading charges in a Philadelphia courtroom.
The 27-year-old told the judge on Thursday he knows he was wrong and entered the guilty plea because "it's the right thing to do."
He faces up to 25 years in prison when he's sentenced in December.
Prosecutors say analyst Damilare Sonoiki fed Kendricks confidential information on four companies about deals that sent their stock prices soaring. They say at the end of the two-year scheme, Kendricks made about $1.2 million.
Sonoiki's lawyer tells the Philadelphia Inquirer that his client also would plead guilty, but no date is set.
Kendricks, who signed a one-year contract with the Browns in June after winning a Super Bowl title last season with the Eagles, was released from the Browns last week after the charges were filed. He's also facing possible further discipline from the NFL for violating its personal conduct policy. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league is reviewing the situation.
Prosecutors allege co-defendant Sonoiki was paid $10,000 in kickbacks in the scheme from 2014-2015, as well as perks like tickets to Eagles games and tagging along to a music video shoot or nightclub appearances, said U.S. Attorney William McSwain.
Sonoiki had been working as a junior analyst at an unnamed investment bank in New York, prosecutors said. An IMDB profile lists him as a former writer on the popular TV series "Black-ish" as well as other movies and TV shows.
The Browns signed Kendricks as a free agent, bringing him in to upgrade their linebacker corps following an 0-16 season. Kendricks spent six years with the Eagles, who drafted him in the second round in 2012 after he played at California.
The 5-foot-11, 240-pounder recorded a team-high eight tackles in last season's NFC Championship against Minnesota and had four in Philadelphia's Super Bowl win.
