On Wednesday, July 5, a California judge ordered former NFL running back Derek Loville to pay a $5,000 fine and sentenced him to 15 months in prison. Loville was nailed for his involvement in a gambling and drug-trafficking ring, that he'd admit to participating in for a four-year stretch as part of a plea agreement.
Loville has a documented history of injuries and concussions that he suffered during his eight years in the NFL. As a result, he began taking morphine, Vicodin, and OxyContin prescribed by his doctor, before moving onto marijuana and painkillers to deal with his ailments he says. But it wasn't enough to ease the burden of chronic headaches, migraines, memory loss and other symptoms that sidelined him from life's activities. In turn, he began receiving Oxycodone and Ecstasy from Owen Hanson, who ran an underground drug distribution operation dubbed ODOG Enterprise. Subsequently, Loville got hooked on using, and capitalizing off of the pills, as he went onto selling them to friends and associates between the years 2011 and 2015.
During his run in the league Loville mostly played in a backup role on the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos but in those years was able to win three Super Bowl rings. His standout season came in 1995, during which he registered 1,385 yards and 13 touchdowns with San Francisco.
Source: bleacherreport.com
