Jason R. Coody, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida
Phillip Timothy Howard, a 64-year-old attorney from Tallahassee, Florida, will continue serving his 14-year federal prison sentence after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld his conviction and sentence on January 7, 2026. Howard had previously pleaded guilty to racketeering (RICO) charges in 2023.
According to court documents, between December 2015 and January 2018, Howard used his law firm, Howard & Associates, P.A., to conduct wire fraud and money laundering as part of a racketeering enterprise. He defrauded several clients—including National Football League players, third-party litigation lenders, and a university professor—obtaining more than $12 million through fraudulent means.
United States Attorney John P. Heekin for the Northern District of Florida commented on the decision: “This defendant repeatedly violated the trust placed in him by his clients, enriching himself by defrauding them of millions of dollars, and continued to try to evade accountability for his crimes even after he was found guilty. As this appellate victory makes clear, my office not only zealously advocates for criminal fraud victims at trial, but also ensures our successful prosecutions stick and criminals are held fully accountable.”
Howard challenged aspects of his guilty plea, disputed the total loss amount attributed to his scheme, and argued against the severity of his sentence during appeal. The U.S. Attorney’s Office defended its case in written briefs; the Eleventh Circuit judges agreed with their arguments and affirmed both conviction and sentence without oral argument.
The investigation was conducted jointly by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), with support from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Assistant United States Attorney Jordane New handled the appeal before the Eleventh Circuit; prosecution at trial was led by Assistant United States Attorney Justin M. Keen and former Assistant United States Attorney David P. Byron.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as principal litigators under direction of the Attorney General. Additional information about this office can be found at https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.
