The Strange Tale of Jamal Lewis

I was elated to hear that Jamal Lewis was visiting the Saints yesterday.  On a slow news day, it was a bright spot because it reminded me again that as Browns fans we no longer have to think about Jamal Lewis or his stutter-stepping through the Cleveland backfield.  After the smile finally escaped my face, confusion set in.  First of all, why would Jamal Lewis keep playing and why would the Saints possibly need Jamal Lewis?

The Saints have Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas to tote the rock next year.  They probably need to add some depth to the position, but at this point, how could Jamal Lewis even be considered “depth?”  Unless Lewis and his agent are pitching some kind of miracle rejuvenation this off-season, I think we all know that Lewis doesn’t have much to contribute to any team.  Then I came across a strange story at ProFootballTalk that somehow slipped under my radar.

A reader has tipped us off to a December 2008 civil judgment against Lewis and two other defendants.  It appears that the plaintiff, Stillwater Asset Backed Fund, L.P., had at some point obtained a judgment against Lewis and two other entities in Georgia, and that an action was filed in Ohio in the hopes of pursuing any local assets of Lewis and/or the other two defendants.

I looked up the case as best I could, but didn’t find much information.  I believe Stillwater Capital Partners is the company that created the Stillwater Asset Backed Fund.  I found out that according to the civil judgement against Lewis and his partners (running under the name TOP FLIGHT INVESTMENT, LLC) the tab is about $28 million.

If Stillwater is the same as the one that I found and started researching, they are sketchy.  Disclaimer. Everything you read after this point is assuming that Stillwater Capital Partners is the same company that started the Asset Backed Fund and that this fund is the same one that won a judgement against Jamal Lewis and his partners.

Assuming they are the same company, Stillwater appears to have potentially been a part of the mortgage crisis that occurred.  According to an article in the Columbus Dispatch in 2005, Stillwater was part of some pretty suspect real estate transactions.

This much is clear: The Stillwater Asset Backed Fund since February 2004 has loaned more than $30 million, financing the buying and reselling of more than 500 vacant houses in Ohio, 390 of them in Columbus, county auditor and recorder records show.

Sellers significantly marked up the price for their properties. Stillwater representatives recruited buyers, at least some of whom say they never saw the houses, and paid them $300 to $1,000 to sign for the Stillwater loans on assurances that the houses would be fixed up and resold before any payments came due.

So, this company that set up these mortgage-based funds and drew investors in with minimum of $500,000 investments won a civil judgement against Jamal Lewis and some partners under an LLC.  This company is also one that contributed significantly to the downfall of the housing market and mortgage industry with practices that border on criminal if the Dispatch stories are true.  Now, I am not sure exactly what role Lewis and his partners had in the whole business, but he seemingly owes a lot of money to a company that had a business model of taking advantage of people.

On top of his supposed debt to Stillwater, his potential participation in the potentially fraudulent game of asset-backed funds could also be considered quite a social debt.  I know I used the word potential too many times there, but I just couldn’t find enough information to say conclusively what is going on in this case.  Just to think how hard Ohio was hit by the mortgage and housing crisis driven by companies like Stillwater, it is enough to make one sick.

Maybe this is why Jamal Lewis is still visiting teams even though his productive days are clearly behind him.  He might be chasing the next NFL dollar in order to continue to pay off this large civil judgement.

(Photo from Flickr)