(WKBN)- A former high school basketball teammate of LeBron James has been charged with trying to defraud the United States.
According to a press release by the U.S. Department of Justice, Romeo Travis was charged by way of information on one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of wire fraud.
The press release released by Michelle Baeppler of the Northern District of Ohio said that the information alleges that Travis impeded, impaired, and obstructed the lawful government functions of the Internal Revenue Service of the Department of the Treasury in computing, assessing, and collecting his individual income taxes.
The report states that the information further alleges that, with Travis’ knowledge and consent, his professional sports agent altered Travis’ basketball contracts with overseas teams by
understating his income, prior to sending those contracts to Travis’ tax preparer.
As a result, Travis reduced his tax liability. The wire fraud count alleges that the false tax returns from the above scheme that falsely under-reported Travis’ income, were used to reduce Travis’ child support payments to an unidentified individual. The child support payments are managed by the Stark County Child Support Enforcement Agency.
If convicted, Travis’s sentence will be determined by the Court after a review of factors
unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record and the defendant’s role in
the offense, and the characteristics of the violation.
The agencies conducting the investigation were the Internal Revenue Service and the Criminal Investigation Division. Robert J. Patton., Senior Litigation Counsel for Tax, is prosecuting the case.
Travis won state championships alongside LeBron James at St. Vincent St. Mary High School in Akron. After high school, he played basketball at the University of Akron. According to Basketball Reference.com, he played overseas in France from 2020-2021.
