A Kane County judge sentenced a man to four years in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft by deception, Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office.

Kane County Associate Court Judge Salvatore LoPiccolo also ordered Kiwon Bates, 37, of Chicago, to pay $25,000 in restitution in exchange for the plea.

Raoul’s investigators determined that in March 2023, Bates knowingly deceived an individual into lending him money to pay his rent by falsely stating his bank account was frozen because someone used his banking card, according to the release.

Bates also said that he was offered a contract to play for the Chicago Bears. The judge ordered Bates to pay $25,000 in restitution to the victim, according to the release.

“Individuals who deliberately mislead others in order to ultimately steal must be held accountable,” Raoul said in the release. “I will continue to protect our communities from those who use deception as a means to steal from innocent victims.”

Bates will serve his sentence in Arizona, concurrently with a sentence in an unrelated case, according to the release.

The Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office referred the case to the attorney general. Assistant Attorney General Samantha Cain prosecuted the case for Raoul’s Special Prosecutions Bureau, according to the release.