Ex-NFL star, pastor and NJ native Irving Fryar sentenced to five years

Former Pro Bowl NFL wide receiver, New Jersey native and pastor Irving Fryar has been sentenced to five years in state prison for his role  in a $1.2 million mortgage scheme involving seven lending institutions.

Also sentenced Friday was his mother, Allene McGhee. Her sentence is for three years' probation in the same case.

Both were convicted in August of conspiracy and theft by deception charges in a scheme authorities say netted Fryar about $300,000 to get his house out of foreclosure and pay off some of his debts. The two were accused of applying for multiple mortgage loans in quick succession while using the same property as collateral.

Fryar had played for the New England Patriots, the Miami Dolphins, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins. As a teen, he played for Rancocas Valley High School in Mount Holly and has served as a high school football coach in Robbinsville, according to multiple reports.

Fryar and his mother fraudulently claimed she earned thousands of dollars a month as an event coordinator for a church Fryar founded, authorities say.

"The fact that Fryar had the means to succeed and do good things and instead chose this criminal path makes his actions all the more reprehensible," acting New Jersey Attorney General John Hoffman said Friday.