On May 23, 2016, Ron Mix pleaded guilty in the state of Missouri to tax fraud committed while he was working as a workers’ compensation attorney.
Mix, an offensive lineman and former number one draft back for the AFL in 1960, is a former San Diego Charger who was elected to the AFL All-Star team nine consecutive times. After retiring from football, he then earned his law degree and more recently focused his practice on the area of assisting retired professional athletes in seeking claims for workers’ compensation benefits.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Mix received referrals for claims from an unnamed non-lawyer and, in return, would improperly donate to that individual’s charity “Project Contact Africa,” including $155,000 between 2010 and 2013. Paying non-lawyers a fee for referral is prohibited in California and Mix improperly claimed those donations on his tax return as charitable deductions instead of classifying them as payments for referrals. Mix pled guilty to one charge stemming from his 2012 tax returns which requires him to pay back $49,543 to the Internal Revenue Service and faces a sentence ranging from probation to between $250,000 and three years in prison. Additionally, he may face additional repercussions from the State Bar of California regarding his processional license.