On Wednesday, Howard acknowledged that he transferred the money without informing EOBA’s board or anyone else affiliated with the organization. He also admitted to tax evasion by failing to report the embezzled funds as income on his tax filings from 2017 through 2021, and by misstating expenses associated with two purported businesses he claimed were operating at a loss — causing an estimated $287,000 in tax losses to the IRS, according to court filings.
Howard is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 14 by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or twice the gross gain from the fraud, and must pay at least $549,132 in restitution to the EOBA.
Howard’s attorney, Randy Sue Pollock, declined to comment.
Howard also admitted to pocketing a $50,000 check that the Currys presented to him in 2019 as part of an episode of Ellen DeGeneres’ show, “Ellen’s Greatest Night of Giveaways.”
In the episode, Howard described the East Oakland Boxing Association as an after-school program “focused on keeping young folks off the streets and engaged in more holistic wellness activity.” He said it serves kids in “essentially kind of the forgotten part of Oakland, where a lot of poverty, crime, violence and negative activities happen.”
At the end of the episode, the Currys delivered a box-truck full of supplies and revealed the surprise check, donated by the show.
“Hopefully it goes a long way, man,” Steph Curry told Howard as the two men hugged.
“This was a devastating moment for our community but one that EOBA had been preparing for,” the organization said in a statement shortly after the charges were announced.
