Art Schlichter has been released from prison.
The former Ohio State Buckeyes and Colts quarterback became eligible for parole June 13 and was released from the Trumbull Correctional Institution in Ohio the very next day. The 61-year-old was serving time for federal fraud charges related to a massive ticket scheme that bilked millions of dollars from his victims.
Schlichter, the No. 4 overall pick in the 1982 NFL Draft, promised football tickets to buyers that never delivered. He was released nearly 11 years in the Federal Correctional Institute and 10 years in an Ohio penitentiary.
Former Franklin County prosecutor Ron O’Brien doesn’t think Schlichter is a changed man.
“My advice to anyone coming upon Mr. Schlichter is that they not engage in any business transactions or any purchases or any other transactions that would involve giving him any money,” said Ron O’Brien, former Franklin (Ohio) County prosecutor who fought to keep Schlichter in prison.
“(He) is a career criminal engaged in fraud as a career,” O’Brien said. “He just cannot help himself. He will do this the rest of his life.”
