Art Schlichter, the fourth overall pick in the 1982 NFL draft, is due in court today on charges that he stole more than $1 million from a 68-year-old woman in Columbus, Ohio.
According to multiple reports, Schlichter is now saying he will cooperate with a police investigation into fraudulent sales of football tickets, a scam that apparently involved people giving Schlichter money for tickets and Schlichter then failing to follow through and produce the tickets.
The victim in the case is a woman Schlichter met 30 years ago, when he was the star quarterback at Ohio State. He allegedly convinced her to invest in the bogus ticket scheme.
Schlichter, who has spent 10 years of his life in prison because of crimes related to his compulsive gambling, is expected to stay in jail while he awaits charges because he is already on probation for similar offenses in Indiana. Schlichter bet on football in violation of league rules during his rookie season with the Baltimore Colts, was suspended for all of the 1983 season, and played in only 13 games in his NFL career.