Ex-Alabama Player Used NFL Disguises in $20M Fraud, Feds Say

Former Alabama defensive end Luther Davis is facing charges of wire fraud and identity theft in a bizarre case where prosecutors say he used wigs and disguises to pose as NFL players to secure nearly $20 million in loans.

Federal prosecutors allege that Davis, who was part of the Tide’s 2009 national title team, pretended to be three NFL players identified only by their initials in court documents. The Guardian reported that the players were Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr., former Browns tight end David Njoku, and Packers safety Xavier McKinney. 

Davis posed as the three players from May 2023 to October 2024 to secure loans from several lending agencies. None of the actual players approved of the loans and court documents say that fake email accounts and driver licenses were created without their knowledge. 

Davis and CJ Evins, his partner in the alleged crimes, are scheduled for a plea hearing on April 27. Ben Alper, Evins’s attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Front Office Sports, but Alper told ESPN his client will plead guilty. Davis’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from FOS.

Court documents allege the duo created fake financial statements to convince lenders they were the actual players. Prosecutors said Davis would appear “dressed in disguise and impersonated the players” to formally close on the loan and had fake driver’s licenses to aid him. Davis allegedly wore makeup and a wig to impersonate Njoku on a video conference for a $4 million note in January 2024, and showed up at a SpringHill Suites Marriott in Buford, Ga. that July with a “durag-style head covering” for a $3.3 million note, alleging to be Penix.

In total, prosecutors allege the duo secured at least 13 fake loans for roughly $20 million. The lending agencies allegedly wired money to accounts for fake companies controlled by Davis and Evins. They later transferred the money into their actual accounts. 

The $4 million loan in which Davis posed as McKinney was given by Aliya Sports Finance and underwritten by Sure Sports. In February 2025, Aliya sued Sure Sports in Florida court alleging negligence, gross negligence, negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment, court records say. The case is still ongoing. On Monday, Sure Sports filed a motion seeking summary judgment. 

“The Aliya Sports Finance Fund, L.P. is working to protect its investors from improper conduct that has caused damage to the fund. The fund cannot comment further given the pending litigation,” Aliya Sports attorney Josh Rubens said in a statement to FOS. 

Darren Heitner, the attorney representing Sure Sports in the case, declined to comment.

In 2013, three years after his college career ended, a report from Yahoo Sports alleged that Davis broke NCAA rules by acting as a go-between for SEC players and NFL agents.