Banks signed with the Las Vegas Locomotives of the UFL on September 20, 2012, appearing in two games and making one tackle before the UFL suspended its season in October.
Atlanta Falcons
Banks signed with the Atlanta Falcons on April 3, 2013, participating in offseason workouts, OTAs, and training camp. Banks made his NFL debut in a preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals, where he picked up two tackles. He played four preseason games with the Falcons before being released on August 30, 2013.
National Football League (NFL)
In 2014, Banks was asked by NFL CommissionerRoger Goodell to speak at the 2014 NFL draft Rookie Symposium. Banks accepted and his speech was well received. A few weeks later, he was hired to join the NFL Department of Operations.
Personal life
In May 2015, Banks married Emmy Marino. They had no children and filed for divorce in February 2017.
False accusation of sexual assault
In the summer of 2002, then 16-year-old Banks was arrested and charged after classmate Wanetta Gibson falsely accused him of dragging her into a stairway and raping her. He got expelled from Long Beach Polytechnic High School right after his custody taken place at Juvenile Hall. Ashley Chew, who was a co-principal of Long Beach Poly High had claimed that Banks would not be allowed to be back on campus regardless of any jurisdictional outcome. Faced with a possible 41 years to life sentence, he accepted a plea bargain that included five years in prison, five years of probation, and registering as a sex offender. Gibson and her mother Wanda Rhodes sued the Long Beach Unified School District, claiming the Poly campus was not a safe environment, and won a $1.5 million settlement. Banks says that his lawyer said that by pleading no contest he would receive probation, but no jail time.
In March 2011, Gibson contacted Banks on Facebook, met with him, and admitted in the presence of a private investigator Banks had hired that she had fabricated the story. Banks secretly recorded Gibson's confession, but she later refused to tell prosecutors that she had lied so she would not have to return the money she and her family had won in court.
Prior to the taped confession, Banks had asked for help from the California Innocence Project, a nonprofit law school clinic run by the San Diego-based California Western School of Law that investigates and litigates cases of actual innocence. At that time, however, there had not been sufficient evidence of Banks' innocence for them to take on the case. However, after the confession, CIP decided to make it the organization's first case involving a wrongfully convicted person who had already been released from prison. The video evidence was not admissible in court because the video had been made without Gibson's knowledge or consent and was not accompanied by a signed confession from her. However, CIP was instrumental in putting together additional evidence supporting Banks' story, which led the district attorney to ask the judge to reverse the conviction on May 24, 2012. Banks was also relieved of his record as a sex offender, allowing him to resume his sports career. Banks supports CIP in its efforts on behalf of the wrongly convicted, participating in CIP's 2013 Innocence March.
School lawsuit
In 2013, the Long Beach Unified School District won a $2.6 million judgment against Gibson, recouping $750,000 in payments paid to her along with attorney's fees, interest, and $1 million in punitive damages; Gibson failed to appear in court.
