NFL player agents received a memo from the union notifying them of a fraud and sex trafficking ring targeting professional football and basketball players, the Daily Mail has learned.
That memo, first reported by Pro Football Talk, came in response to Kwamaine Jerell Ford’s recent allegation. The 34-year-old Georgia man faces several federal charges, including nine counts of wire fraud, seven counts of computer fraud, one count of access device fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of sex trafficking. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Ford allegedly posed as an adult film star in an attempt to trick athletes into revealing passwords and other sensitive information. PFT specifically reported that Ford posed as porn actress ‘Teanna Trump.’ The actual artist working under that name is not accused of any crime nor is he believed to have any connection to this case.
Additionally, Ford is also accused of trafficking a young woman and forcing her to produce secretly recorded videos of commercial sex acts with unknown persons between 2020 and 2024.
«The FBI has reported that Kwamaine Jerell Ford, posing as an adult film star, lured athletes into providing confidential information,» reads the note published by PFT. ‘This individual was allegedly able to access the iCloud accounts of many athletes and stole victims’ information, including credit cards.
«Furthermore, this individual posing as an adult film star lured athletes into having sexual relations with an adult Onlyfans creator, and was filmed without their knowledge or consent.»
Ford allegedly posed as Teanna Trump (pictured), who has no personal connection to the case.
Ford’s mugshot is not available because the Department of Justice does not obtain or provide booking photos.
The NFL and NBA players believed to have been caught up in the scheme have not been publicly identified. In the indictment they are identified only by their initials. The memo also included a link that agents can use to determine if their clients were victims of the alleged scheme.
The Daily Mail has asked Ford’s lawyer for comment.
The 34-year-old defendant was previously convicted of computer fraud and aggravated identity theft for a similar $325,000 scheme in 2019. Prosecutors now say he began working on his next scheme while behind bars in 2020.
Ford, allegedly posing as an adult film star on the Internet, is accused of offering to send sexually explicit photographs to professional athletes.
Then, after successfully spoofing Apple customer service accounts, Ford would request usernames, passwords and authentication codes from victims in exchange for access to the promised pornographic photos, according to the indictment.
The NFL players allegedly caught up in the scheme have not been identified.
Ford allegedly tricked dozens of victims into divulging their login credentials, which he is accused of using to obtain credit and debit card information.
«While serving time for stealing credit card numbers from athletes and celebrities to finance his lifestyle, Ford allegedly engaged in the same conduct again,» U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a news release.
The Department of Justice further claims that in May 2021, Ford posed as a porn star to recruit and force a female victim to perform sex work with professional athletes. Ford allegedly promised the woman that he would advance her modeling career.
«Disturbingly, the indictment alleges that Ford went even further and used an online fraudulent persona to traffic a young woman and force her to produce hidden camera videos of commercial sex acts with unknown individuals,» Hertzberg said.
Ford then advertised the victim among the athletes, coordinated her travel with the men and negotiated payments in exchange for sex, according to the Justice Department news release. He is also accused of using other fraudulent individuals to further threaten and coerce the woman into complying with this plan.
The Justice Department claims the woman recorded many of the sexual encounters with athletes at Ford’s insistence. The athletes supposedly did not know they were being recorded.
