Wendell Smallwood Jr. granted early prison release to be with 8-year-old daughter battling cancer

A judge withdrew his guilty plea after learning about the 8-year-old’s health condition.

Wendell Smallwood Jr. may be home within days, and the reason has nothing to do with football.

The former Philadelphia Eagles running back, incarcerated since 2024, is expected to be released early so he can spend what time remains with his 8-year-old daughter, Mila, who was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. According to the News Journal, doctors have told the family she may have only days or weeks left.

The breakthrough came Friday, Aug. 7, when Gloucester County Superior Court Judge Renard Scott withdrew Smallwood’s guilty plea in a New Jersey gun possession case, pointing directly to his daughter’s illness as justification.

The ruling was also made possible by a July appeals court decision finding New Jersey’s assault weapons ban unconstitutional, which opened the door for the plea to be withdrawn. The outlet reported that Smallwood’s conduct in federal custody and his participation in rehabilitation programs factored into the decision as well.

Smallwood, 32, had been serving an 18-month federal sentence handed down in September 2025 on fraud charges tied to COVID-19 economic relief programs, alongside a concurrent three-year state sentence in the gun case.

His attorney, Yaron Helmer, framed the stakes in terms no courtroom filing quite captures. “This is not just a matter of legal semantics,” he told the News Journal. “It’s about whether his daughter will hold her dad again.” Helmer indicated Smallwood could walk out as early as Monday, Aug. 17.

A West Virginia University product, Smallwood was drafted by the Eagles in 2016 and went on to play for the Washington Commanders and Pittsburgh Steelers before his career ended.