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Sunday, February 06, 2005
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ROGUE BOOSTERS
Hoo boy. A big ol' fan of Alabama football bribed a high school coach with $150,000 for him to steer one of his boys to 'bama. (The oblivious player, of course, got jackshit.) ' Young was convicted Wednesday of bribing former high school coach Lynn Lang to persuade defensive lineman Albert Means to sign with Alabama in 2000. U.S. Attorney Terrell Harris said he wasn’t out to clean up college sports by prosecuting Young, who was charged under federal laws generally used to go after organized crime and drug dealers. “But if it deters certain types of criminal conduct by boosters or those associated with college football, that’s a good thing,” Harris said. Law professor Sandra Guerra Thompson said Young’s conviction for racketeering conspiracy shows shady sports boosters are risking more than NCAA penalties. “It’s certainly the first time I’ve heard of it,” said Thompson, a specialist in federal criminal law at the University of Houston. “One of the interesting features of federal white collar crime is that it can often apply in situations that are not what we would traditionally consider criminal. It’s almost like being struck by lightning to a certain extent, whether prosecutors decide to open an investigation and bring charges.” Young’s supporters complained that dragging him into federal court was a heavy-handed use of the law. But Harris disagreed. “It’s wrong to buy and sell 18-year-old student-athletes; it’s wrong to bribe high school football coaches,” Harris said. Jim Haslam, a trustee with the University of Tennessee, said he hopes Young’s conviction would lead sports boosters to think twice before breaking NCAA rules. “One of the most detrimental things to college athletics, obviously, are rogue boosters,” Haslam said. Young was convicted of conspiring to bribe a public official, money laundering and crossing state lines to commit a crime. Those offenses carry a maximum prison term of 15 years, but federal sentencing guidelines call for a much lighter punishment. Sentencing is scheduled for May 5, and Young is free without bond and likely will remain free while appealing the conviction. ' |