Florida attorney’s racketeering conviction for defrauding NFL players & other clients affirmed by the eleventh circuit

Date: Jan. 23, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Tallahassee, FL – On January 7, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the conviction and sentence of Phillip Timothy Howard of Tallahassee, Florida. Howard is serving a 14-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to racketeering (RICO) in 2023. The affirmance was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

United States Attorney Heekin said, “This defendant repeatedly violated the trust placed in him by his clients, enriching himself by defrauding them of millions of dollars, and continued to try to evade accountability for his crimes even after he was found guilty. As this appellate victory makes clear, my office not only zealously advocates for criminal fraud victims at trial, but also ensures our successful prosecutions stick and criminals are held fully accountable.”

Court documents reflect between December 2015 and January 2018, Howard, a Florida attorney, used his Tallahassee law firm Howard & Associates, P.A., to commit wire fraud and money laundering through a racketeering enterprise. Howard defrauded several of his clients, including National Football League players, third-party litigation lenders, and a university professor. In all, Howard fraudulently obtained more than $12 million from his victims.

Howard’s appellate attacks on the validity of his prior guilty plea, the total loss attributable to his fraud scheme, and the severity of his sentence were well-rebutted in briefs filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office defending the conviction and sentence. Judges on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals fully agreed with the positions of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and affirmed the conviction and sentence in an unpublished opinion without requiring oral argument.

This conviction was the result of a joint investigation by the Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Assistant United States Attorney Jordane New handled the appeal before the Eleventh Circuit. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin M. Keen and former Assistant United States Attorney David P. Byron.

IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.