Player says agent 'robbed everybody'

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor testified Wednesday that he was swindled out of most of his $5 million signing bonus by an agent who ``robbed everybody blind.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Taylor, testifying in the federal fraud trial of William ``Tank&#39;&#39; Black, choked back tears as he recalled how Black had violated his trust. <br> <br> ``I agreed with everything he said,&#39;&#39; Taylor told a U.S. District Court jury. ``I trusted him with my life, with my daughter&#39;s life.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Also appearing as prosecution witnesses were current and former NFL players Robert Brooks, Germane Crowell, Terry Allen and Jacquez Green, all once represented by Black. <br> <br> He is charged with fraud for allegedly stealing between $12 million and $14 million from the NFL players he represented. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison. <br> <br> Immediately after Taylor signed with Jacksonville in 1998, he received part of his signing bonus, about $2.4 million. And that went straight to Black, Taylor said. <br> <br> ``I trusted Tank that he would do right with the money,&#39;&#39; Taylor testified. ``Every so often I would ask how it was doing, and I got this sheet that said a bunch of money was reinvested and reinvested, but it was make-believe.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> At one point during cross-examination, Taylor angrily accused Black&#39;s defense attorney, Jon Uman, of trying to paint him as the villain. Taylor said Uman had tried to do the same with Ike Hilliard, the New York Giants wide receiver who testified last week that he was bilked out of as much as $2.5 million. <br> <br> ``I spoke to Ike about you trying to make him look bad, kind of like you&#39;re doing me, when your client clearly robbed everybody blind,&#39;&#39; Taylor said. <br> <br> Taylor&#39;s testimony came hours after Brooks said he lost $2.5 million by investing in a company that Black allegedly set up as part of a money-laundering scheme. <br> <br> Brooks, who last played for the Denver Broncos in 2000, said Black promised him a 20 percent return if he invested in a car-title loan company in Atlanta called Cash 4 Titles. <br> <br> The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shut down Cash 4 Titles in 1999, calling it one of the nation&#39;s biggest illegal pyramids. <br> <br> By then, it was too late for Brooks. <br> <br> ``I gave Tank 30 days notice (to get me out of Cash 4 Titles), and two weeks later, he said some guys got arrested or whatever and I couldn&#39;t get my money,&#39;&#39; Brooks said. <br> <br> Allen, a running back with the Baltimore Ravens, testified that he lost about $2 million in the Cash 4 Titles swindle. ``He said it was a good investment, we could make a lot of money on it,&#39;&#39; Allen said. <br> <br> The father of Tampa Bay wide receiver Reidel Anthony told the jury his son was defrauded out of $1 million in connection with Cash 4 Titles. <br> <br> ``I trusted him with my child, my baby,&#39;&#39; said Clarence Anthony, the mayor of South Bay, Fla. <br> <br> Detroit Lions wide receiver Crowell said Black advised him to take out a $600,000 loan after the Lions picked him in the 1998 NFL Draft. Black then allegedly told Crowell to invest in Black Americans of Achievement. <br> <br> San Diego-based BAOA produced and marketed a board game, similar to Trivial Pursuit, providing questions and answers about accomplished African Americans. <br> <br> ``I didn&#39;t get a signing bonus, so he said I could take out a loan and that was my signing bonus,&#39;&#39; Crowell said. ``He then approached me with this stock after I took out the loan.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Crowell added that he wouldn&#39;t have taken out the loan had Black not promised a 20 percent return on his investment. <br> <br> The SEC alleges Black&#39;s clients reportedly paid $1.2 million for their BAOA investments. Between March 1996 and November 1997, Black charged 15 clients a total of $1.1 million to buy BAOA stock that he had the company issue free, according to the SEC. <br> <br> He offered clients a money-back guarantee after a two-year period. But he failed to tell them they were buying stock issued free, and for two years deprived them of their money with no interest paid, according to court documents. Last June, Black was sentenced to 82 months in federal prison for a money laundering charge stemming from a drug operation.