Jim Thorpe career earnings + $13 million_Jim Thorpe career earnings is $13 million.Jim Thorpe was sentenced today to one year in jail for failing to pay more than $2 million in income tax. In addition to the one-year jail term, Jim Thorpe will need to fulfill 200 hours of community service after his release. Jim Thorpe is expected to turn himself in by April 1 to the Bureau of Prisons.

Jim Thorpe, 60, is a professional golfer with more than $13 million in career earnings in Champions Tour according to PGA Tour. Jim Thorpe played in more than 450 tournaments on the PGA Tour. He won 13 times in more than 300 events on the senior Champions Tour.

The golfer played more than 450 tournaments on the PGA Tour and had three top-10 finishes in majors -- two in the U.S. Open and one in the U.S. PGA Championship.

He has won 13 times, including one major, in more than 300 events on the senior Champions Tour.

Source: reuters.com

Thorpe won 5 events and earned more than $4.7 million from 2002 to 2004, but failed to pay income taxes. Thorpe agreed to pay his taxes with interest and penalties totaled at over $2 million.

In his court appearance on Friday, Jim Thorpe admitted wrongdoing: "I've definitely made some mistakes."

We all make mistakes. Most of us also do good. But sometimes the bad outweighs the good. That seems to be the case with professional golfer Jim Thorpe, although a group of his friends are determined to flip that around.

The 13-time winner on the Champions Tour with over $13 million in career earnings was sentenced in January to one year in prison for income tax evasion. The 61-year-old golfer played a dozen times here in Connecticut at the GHO during his years on the PGA Tour and is now known locally for his association with Foxwoods Resort Casino.

Thorpe became involved with Foxwoods in the late 1990s after he appeared at a charity golf outing for high-rollers hosted by the casino. The tournament was rained out and most of the high rollers went gambling, but Thorpe headed to the range rather than the casino. He came across a boy who appeared to be learning the game, so he went over and began helping him with his swing. Then he took the boy out to play a few holes. Thorpe later drove back home to Buffalo without ever finding out the boy's name.

Turns out he was the son of Kenneth Reels, then chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe -- and we all know who they are. Reels tracked down Thorpe at home, called to say thanks for helping his son and invited him back to Foxwoods where Reels signed the financially struggling golfer to a sponsorship package that Thorpe called "a deal of a lifetime."

In September, Thorpe pleaded guilty to two federal counts of failing to pay his taxes and agreed to repay everything with interest and penalties. Newspaper reports of the January sentencing say the judge heard testimony about Thorpe's many charitable activities during his career. Because of that, his sentence was limted to one year instead of two.

Last Thursday, Thorpe turned himself into a federal prison in Alabama to begin serving his sentence.

But a group of his friends aren't happy with the sentence. They have set up a Facebook group "Jim Thorpe Should Be Set Free!!!" that points out Thorpe's 30 years of charitable work and his efforts to steer young people away from drugs. They believe probation and community service would enable Thorpe, the first African American ever to play in a U.S. Open, to continue that good work. As of today, the group had 213 members.

I'm not going to make judgements about Thorpe's situation. Tax evasion is a serious offense and needs to be punished appropriately, otherwise no one would pay their taxes. But while Thorpe is away, there will certainly be some good work that will be left undone.
American golfer Jim Thorpe, a 13-time winner on the senior Champions Tour, pleaded guilty to tax evasion on Tuesday and faces up to two years in prison and a fine totaling more than $4 million, authorities said.

sources: nowpublic,ctgolfer