As we previously reported, Daejon Love, the man accused of running a years-long romance scam while posing as a San Francisco 49ers player, is now sitting behind bars in Boise, Idaho, and his booking photo has just been released. And of course, social media is having a field day with it.
The pic shows a dead-face Daejon Love looking defeated in his mugshot. The newly-released photo is just the latest chapter in his scamming story that’s had the sports world clowning him for over a week.
The Ada County Jail confirmed to The New York Post that Love is being held in a cell at their facility after a judge ordered him detained pending his transfer to Oregon, where the actual federal charges are being handled. His co-defendant, 18-year-old Taylor Jamie Chan, isn’t locked up, he’s out on release ahead of her own court appearance. But for Love, the fantasy football career is officially over, and now he’s facing the real consequences of a scheme prosecutors say he ran for more than four years.
Here’s how it went down: According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon, Love and Chan began their alleged scheme back in February 2022, targeting women across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and California. Love found most of his victims through dating apps, where he built out entire fake identities, sometimes posing as a 49ers wide receiver, other times as a wealthy real estate investor with deep pockets and an even deeper portfolio.
Prosecutors shared screenshots allegedly from Love’s profiles showing him in 49ers gear standing next to luxury cars, plus a fake investment app claiming he was sitting on more than $5 million in cash and $15 million in investments.
But the money wasn’t the only thing he was faking, it was the relationships too. The DOJ said “Love had romantic relationships with many of the victims and told them he wanted to build wealth and a future together.” Women thought they were building a life with this man. Instead, they were getting played into wiring money toward investments that never existed, with Chan allegedly playing the role of financial adviser to make the whole thing look legit.
The receipts on this dude go deep. Investigators say Love operated under a rotating cast of aliases, Jon Love, Avril Lyto Love, and even Jordan Love, borrowing the name of an actual NFL quarterback for extra credibility. When people started questioning whether he really played for the Niners, he had content ready to back it up, including a video where he allegedly staged his own fake “signing day,” pretending to ink an NFL contract on camera.
And when his story got fact-checked online, he reportedly leaned on an inaccurate Google AI search result that mistakenly listed him as a San Francisco wide receiver, using the algorithm’s own mistake as proof he was telling the truth.
By the time the FBI caught up with him, the numbers were staggering. Financial records show Love and Chan pulled in about $1.3 million from at least 26 identified victims, and the FBI says it believes there are “many more” out there who haven’t come forward yet. The two were finally arrested earlier this month at the Boise Airport, and get this, investigators say Love was actually in Idaho hunting for new victims when the feds picked him up. Man was still running plays after the whistle blew.
Now that the mugshot’s out and the jokes have made their rounds, the real story is just getting started. Love hasn’t entered a plea, and both he and Chan are presumed innocent until proven guilty.