File this under one more reason student athletes need to succeed both on and off the field. Former University of Miami defensive tackle – and 2001 National Champion – William Joseph has been arrested and charged in a South Florida tax refund and identity theft scheme.
Joseph was one of eight people that federal prosecutors nabbed in a sting at a check-cashing store in North Miami from February to April of this year. This group allegedly cashed upwards of a half a million dollars in fraudulent refund checks. The money was actually paid out of FBI funds as part of the sting, so no checks were actually cashed.
Joseph has been charged with forgery of U.S. Treasury checks, theft of government money and use of five or more identification documents with unlawful intent. In convicted, he could face a maximum prison term of five and fifteen years.
Joseph is a Miami product out of Edison High. He started every game of his career at UM — fifty-one, including bowl games — and was a first-team All-Big East selection in 2002, a third-team All-American in 2001 and a 1999 Sporting News second-team freshman All-American.
Joseph was one of four UM first rounders taken in the 2003 NFL Draft, selected twenty-fifth by the New York Giants, with whom he earned a ring for Super Bowl XLII despite being on injured reserve. Joseph spent 2003 through 2007 with the Giants before heading to Oakland for two seasons. Prior to his arrest he was a free agent who hadn’t played since the beginning of the 2010 season.
Out of football two years, Joseph seems to have hit a dead end life-wise. Barely thirty years old, with the game in the rearview, he now faces that proverbial question so many ex-athletes face; now what?
For Joseph, a life of crime seemed a more viable option than joining society, simply as a working stiff, or putting in time and building a career.
Another sad story for someone who found next-level success, squandered his earnings and was left option-less at a time in life when most folks find their groove.
Hopefully there can be some redemption down the road after he’s repaid his debt to society. Good luck, No. 94.