Ex-Football Star Who Worked for J. David to Admit to Tax Evasion

Former Green Bay Packers star John Brockington will plead guilty today in federal court to a charge of income-tax evasion stemming from the time he worked as a salesman for the fraud-ridden J. David & Co. investment firm, his attorney said Tuesday.

Brockington worked for the firm in the early 1980s, according to the attorney, Stephen Hoffman, who added that as part of a plea bargain, Brockington has agreed to cooperate with an on-going federal investigation of fraud at the firm.

“He’ll do whatever they want him to do,” Hoffman said. “He’ll be debriefed at any time.”

5-Year Term Possible

Brockington will waive indictment today before U.S. District Judge Earl B. Gilliam and plead guilty to a charge that he evaded $7,922 in income tax in 1982, Hoffman said. He faces penalties of five years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

If Brockington had not agreed to plead guilty to the single count, the government would have continued its investigation into his finances and widened the scope to include other years, Hoffman said.

A running back for the Packers from 1971 through 1977, Brockington rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of his first three seasons, earning him a place in the Packer Hall of Fame.

He bought a home in La Jolla in the mid-1970s and went to work for J. David & Co. after his football career ended. For the past several years, Brockington has been self-employed, but Hoffman refused to be more specific.

J. David & Co. has been under investigation by U.S. Atty. Peter Nunez’s office since February, 1984, the same month that a group of disgruntled investors forced the firm into bankruptcy after its checks began to bounce.

The firm’s 1,500 investors included celebrities, political figures and professional athletes who invested millions of dollars. They were lured by promises of annual returns of up to 40%, and the reputation of the firm’s founder, J. David (Jerry) Dominelli, as a skilled player in the volatile and unregulated foreign-currency markets.

$82 Million in Losses

Dominelli confessed that he did little, if any, trading for his investors. Actual losses totaled about $82 million, much of which was spent by Dominelli and Nancy Hoover, the former mayor of Del Mar, on charitable causes and to support their lavish life style. Hoover was second in command at the firm and was Dominelli’s live-in companion at the time.

Dominelli is serving a 20-year prison sentence for his role in the so-called Ponzi scheme, in which the funds of new investors are used to pay off old clients. He pleaded guilty in 1985 to four counts of fraud and income-tax evasion.

Hoover was indicted in November, 1986, and is awaiting trial on charges of fraud, conspiracy and income-tax evasion.