MKRob Sports

Former University of Michigan and NBA basketball player Robert “Tractor” Traylor could face prison time for allegedly breaking the terms of his probation from a 2007 tax conviction.

Traylor has been summoned to appear before U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn Sept. 14 after the probation department complained he had violated three terms of his probation, according to federal court records filed today.

Traylor hasn’t paid more than $175,000 in taxes, interest and penalties he owes the Internal Revenue Service, has not set up a payment plan as ordered and has not filed his 2008 income tax returns, U.S. Probation Officer Shawn McElroy said in a report.

Since he was sentenced, Traylor has earned about $400,000 playing basketball in Puerto Rico, Turkey and elsewhere, but has only made one $1,500 payment on the $178,000 he was ordered to remit, the report said.

Traylor, 32, of West Bloomfield Township, got entangled in a criminal case related to a major drug ring headed by his cousin, Quasand Lewis.

Lewis used a number of methods to hide more than $178 million in drug profits, and Traylor admitted he recorded in his name two rental properties that were actually owned by Lewis.

In 2005, when Traylor filed his income tax return for the 2004 tax year, he claimed a $205,688 loss on the Lewis-owned rental properties, significantly reducing his taxable income, Traylor admitted when he pleaded guilty to preparing a false tax return.

“This is a nonstory,” said Traylor’s Detroit attorney, Steve Fishman. “Mr. Traylor has been in contact with the revenue agent, and we expect to have this matter resolved in a short period of time.”

Traylor, a 6-foot, 8-inch forward who last played in the NBA for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2004-05, was named the tournament MVP in leading Michigan to the 1997 National Invitation Tournament Championship. However, the award was vacated when Michigan forfeited its 1996-97 season due to ineligible players.

The New Jersey Nets wanted Traylor for the 2005-06 season, but he failed his physical.

Cohn has modified the terms of Traylor’s three-year probation on at least two occasions to allow him to play basketball out of the country.

Lewis, 39, was sentenced to 19 years in prison.