Ex-Chicago Bears star and former All-American defensive tackle Chris Zorich was charged for failing to file his federal income tax returns on Thursday, with his attorney saying that he would plead guilty to try to avoid jail time.
According to the Associated Press, the Chicago native and former Notre Dame star pleaded guilty to the charges on Thursday after failing to file federal income tax returns over four years from 2006 to 2009. During that time he allegedly made up to $1 million and the report says he is cooperating with the government.
Zorich is originally from the area and he was part of the 1988 Notre Dame championship team, before joining the Bears. He played defensive tackle for the team from 1991 to 1996 before finishing his career with the Washington Redskins.
A hearing has not been set for the case, but his attorney, Matthias Lydon, said he would be cooperating. The counts could carry a sentence of a year in prison and a $100,000 fine, but the attorney hopes the player can avoid jail time.
"He's been looking forward to the day he could start putting this behind him," Lydon said.
Zorich is accused of not filing taxes on money made from his namesake scholarship charity, The Chris Zorich Foundation, as well as money he made from the Bears and by Notre Dame in the late 2000s for a job he had. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago, the charity did not report payments.
According to the AP: "He allegedly received gross income of at least $331,000 in 2006, $70,000 in 2007, $372,000 in 2008 and $242,000 in 2009, but failed to file federal returns for those years."
