Peggy Fulford, who stole millions of dollars from sports stars including Dennis Rodman, has been released from her 10-year prison sentence.
Fulford, 65, has served five years of her 2018 sentence for the fraud.
She has been released from the low-security federal prison in Aliceville, Alabama.
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After her release, she is likely to spend the rest of her sentence in a halfway house or at a private residence.
Federal halfway house residents are usually required to gain employment and might be allowed to drive or use a cellphone for work.
They can also get four-hour recreational weekend passes.
She had been asking for compassionate release on the grounds of her age since the start of the Covid pandemic.
Fulford also claimed she needs to care for her father.
She says she has been rehabilitated by completing educational classes and working full-time in the prison laundry.
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The fraud
Fulford famously duped Rodman, NFL star Ricky Williams, and footballer Lex Hilliard into handing her control of their finances.
She promised to pay her marks’ bills, file their taxes, and make retirement investments on their behalf at no charge.
She gave the impression she was an independently wealthy woman who was looking out for the financial health of her friends.
In fact, she was enriching herself by helping herself to cash to buy expensive jewellery, cars, airline tickets and land for herself.
She was arrested in 2016 after clients started having major financial issues, like massive tax bills.
Rodman even had his electricity cut off after the bill he trusted Fulford with was never paid.
She admitted a charge of one federal charge of interstate transportation of stolen property and received the maximum sentence available: 10 years behind bars.
Fulford was also ordered to pay back $5.7 million to her victims.
As well as scamming the sports stars, she also admitted stealing $174,000 from a physician she convinced to invest in a vacant New Orleans schoolhouse for development.
The problem was the building was never for sale.
She was given a three-year sentence for that fraud, served at the same time.
In 2021, she submitted papers complaining she should have been given a lighter sentence due to pleading guilty.
She also argued that she was denied her constitutional right to competent legal representation.
Her case was thrown out.
Due to the high-profile people involved in the case, it has attracted major interest.
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“I wanted to be on the Peggy train”
Fulford was granted a prison interview for BET’s American Gangster: Trap Queens documentary.
She spoke to Ricky Williams via video conference.
She told him: “I’m so sorry. I never meant to disappoint you … And I did. I failed you. And that’s … what’s really hurting me – more than anything.
“I hope that in your heart you can forgive me.”
Williams showed unusual compassion to someone who took all the money he earned during his career.
He said: “Maybe I’m delusional … but you brought a lot to my life, and I wanted to be on the Peggy train.
“I didn’t realize the ticket would be so expensive.
“But when you invest in creating a bond with someone, you take the good and the bad.”
Williams absolved Fulford after his ex-wife, Kristin, appeared at her sentencing hearing in federal court and testified that Fulford had taken “all” of the money Williams earned in 11 NFL seasons.
