Ex-Colts QB Art Schlichter in Ohio for more prison time due to cocaine use, gambling

Art Schlichter’s multi-million-dollar NFL ticket scheme used to fund his compulsive gambling habit, along with his cocaine use while on house arrest in 2012, will put the former Indianapolis Colts quarterback in an Ohio penitentiary until September 2021.

Schlichter, 60, was released last week from the Federal Correctional Institute in Florence, Colorado, after serving eight years for federal fraud charges related to a massive ticket scheme that bilked millions of dollars from his victims.

On Aug. 18, Schlichter was transported from Colorado to a Franklin County (Ohio) jail where he is quarantined for 14 days. He will take a COVID-19 test and, if negative, be taken to an Ohio penitentiary.

His sentence there will extend to Sept. 29, 2021, said Franklin County prosecutor Ron O’Brien. State prison officials calculated Schlichter’s remaining time, O’Brien said, based on the following:

• Schlichter pleaded guilty to the ticket scheme, was sentenced and released on bond in September 2011. In that scheme, he promised college and NFL game tickets to buyers, but never delivered the tickets despite being paid for them.

• Per the plea agreement, the state sentence was to begin the same day his federal sentence did. 

• Four months later, in January 2012, Schlichter’s bond was revoked due to drug usage. According to court records, Schlichter was charged with violating the terms of his house arrest, testing positive for cocaine twice and then refusing to give urine samples. He was taken into custody.

• He was sentenced on the federal case in May of 2012, which is the same date his state sentence began, to be served concurrently. Now out of federal prison, the remaining time on his state sentence is almost exactly 11 months — with a release date of Sept. 29, 2021.

Schlichter and his attorney Stephen Palmer filed a motion last month to allow Schlichter to be free after being released from federal prison.  

“We can only take so much pounds of flesh out of one human,” Palmer said. “He did his crimes, he’s served his time. Time to let him out.”

Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Chris Brown said earlier this month Schlichter has not earned his freedom.

Court records showed Schlichter was asking female acquaintances to place bets for him while he was in prison.

“He is past the point of rehabilitation,” said Brown. “To release him now would be to subject the people of Franklin County to further criminal conduct. I have no faith he is going to get out and conduct (himself appropriately).”

IndyStar spent months earlier this year talking to Schlichter in an exclusive email prison interview. He told IndyStar he suffers from dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

He also said he had been treated unfairly by the courts and suffered many tragedies in his life.

Those who know Schlichter say he is smart and charming, yet his addictions have ruled his life.

“He will con the pants off of anyone,” said Arnie Wexler, a nationally renowned expert on compulsive gambling who has been a mentor to Schlichter. “The guy’s really smart, but he’s also really sick.”

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.