McCrary case cautions athletes
Michael McCrary had known Edward Giannasca for half a decade, and, until the former Baltimore Raven realized that he’d been cheated out of millions, he thought of the longtime developer as a stand-up guy.
McCrary trusted Giannasca so much that, with few questions asked, he handed him a $3million check three years ago for a real estate project that would convert a building in New Orleans into condominiums.
Giannasca, though, betrayed that loyalty, pocketing along with his other partners about $12 million in insurance money after Hurricane Katrina spoiled the deal and telling McCrary that the insurance claim they’d filed had been denied, a Baltimore circuit judge ruled Wednesday.
The judge ordered Giannasca and others, including developer Stuart C. “Neil” Fisher, to pay $33 million in damages to McCrary, who says he’ll use his experience as a cautionary tale for current and former NFL players.