CriminalSports

CriminalSports
The home of sports prime time crime

Thursday, October 03, 2002

BISON DELE UPDATE: Dele Shot With Own Handgun

NEW YORK -- ESPN reports Bison Dele's girlfriend, Serena Karlan, was knocked to the deck and killed instantly while breaking up a fight between Dele and his brother, Miles Dabord, as the three and a ship's captain sailed near Tahiti in early July. That's the story Erica Wiese, Dabord's former girlfriend, told ESPN The Magazine's Tim Keown and the Los Angeles Times, based on her conversations with Dabord. The stories are in the Oct. 14 issue of ESPN The Magazine and Thursday's Los Angeles Times.

Dele then killed the captain, Bertrand Saldo, with a wrench, because Saldo wanted to report Karlan's death to authorities. As the fight continued, Dabord killed Dele in self-defense, using Dele's own handgun. And Dabord weighted the bodies and dumped them overboard from the Hakuna Matata, Dele's boat.

4:16:34 PM

CHARGED: Aaron Beasley, New York Jets

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Associated Press reports New York Jets cornerback Aaron Beasley has been charged with a misdemeanor of simple battery during a bar fight in Jacksonville on July 6. Hank Coxe, Beasley's attorney, said Tuesday the charge was filed against Beasley over the weekend when the Jets were in Jacksonville for Sunday's game with the Jaguars. Beasley, a former Jaguar, has a Nov. 25 court date in Duval County Court, but is not required to attend.

Desmond Harris, 24, of Jacksonville, told police Beasley punched him in the eye when he and Beasley were wrestling around in the parking lot outside the Voodoo Lounge.

4:10:52 PM

ARRESTED: Freddie Bradley, Former NFL

OXNARD, Calif. -- Associated Press reports former San Diego Chargers running back Freddie Bradley was arrested for investigation of selling rock cocaine. Bradley, 32, and his wife Edith, 30, were arrested on Sept. 26 at his home after police served a search warrant and found packaged rock cocaine, weapons and money, Detective Mike Young said.

Bradley pleaded innocent Monday to three felony charges of possession for sale of cocaine and sale and transportation of a controlled substance. His wife pleaded innocent to one count of possession for sale of cocaine base, according to the Ventura County district attorney's office.

4:07:18 PM

PIERRE PIERCE UPDATE: Alford Cautions Against Rush to Judgement

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The Daily Iowan reports Iowa men's basketball coach Steve Alford cautioned some of his staunchest fans to reserve judgment on Hawkeye guard Pierre Pierce until a conviction or acquittal is reached on his alleged sexual assault charge.

"Pierre has been through a tough time -- he's suspended right now, and I'm not saying it's fair or unfair, but he doesn't need to be thinking about basketball right now," Alford said .

Pierce's attorneys maintain that the sexual contact between their client and the alleged victim was consensual. Alford said he and the remaining eight team members are behind Pierce 100 percent, adding that students should be supportive of both sides.

4:02:23 PM

ED MARTIN UPDATE: Sentencing Delay
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Associated Press reports the sentencing of former Michigan booster Ed Martin has been delayed from Oct. 8 until Feb. 20. He pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to launder money. Martin has said he took gambling money, combined it with other funds and lent it to Sacramento Kings star Chris Webber and other former Michigan basketball players and their families while the players were still amateurs.
Webber, along with his father, Mayce Webber Jr., and aunt, Charlene Johnson, are charged with lying to a grand jury and obstructing justice in Martin's case. They have pleaded innocent and their trials are not expected to begin until next year. Martin says he gave Chris Webber and his family $280,000 in cash and gifts while the basketball standout was in high school and at Michigan.

3:57:52 PM

KURT THOMAS UPDATE: Charges Don't Bother Him At All
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Associated Press reports New York Kincks Kurt Thomas says his arrest on domestic violence "doesn't bother me at all." On his way to the team's practice facility for media day Monday, Thomas received a call from Connecticut police asking him to return. He was arrested upon his arrival, posted $1,000 bail and then was arraigned on charges of third-degree assault and risking injury to a minor. After leaving court, Thomas caught a flight to Charleston in time to make it to Tuesday night's practice.
Thomas is under court order to stay away from his wife, Amber, and the couple's home. Lawyers said they are getting a divorce after about two years of marriage.
"The thing that is going to be tough for me is not being able to see my (2-year-old) kid. Other than that, it doesn't bother me at all," said Thomas, a self-described laid-back Texan. "No one wants to go through something like this, especially when it's in the public eye. But I have to take that with my profession and deal with it."

3:55:24 PM

GRANT ROBERTS UPDATE: Pitcher Meets With Prosecutors

NEW YORK -- Associated Press reports New York Mets pitcher Grant Roberts met with prosecutors investigating his accusation that a woman used a picture of him smoking marijuana in an extortion attempt. Roberts and agent Seth Levinson have said Jodi Turner tried to extort money from the pitcher before releasing the 1998 picture, which appeared in Newsday illustrating an article saying that at least seven Mets were suspected of using marijuana this season. Turner could face possible charges of grand larceny and coercion, carrying a jail term of up to seven years.

3:48:44 PM

SURRENDER: New York Mets Employees
NEW YORK -- Associated Press reports a trusted New York Mets ex-team employee, three of his co-workers and two other suspects surrendered Thursday for allegedly stealing $2 million from the team between 1994 and 2000, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced. Former Mets executive Russell Richardson, 46, of Hempstead, was identified as the reputed ringleader of the group. Richardson, who spent 17 years with the club, used his insider's position to illegally make $600,000, Brown said.
According to reports, the scams operated in a variety of ways. The simplest involved overbillling the Mets, like charging $50 for a $25 box of copy paper. The most complex involved the creation of a phony company that collected $350,000 for nonexistent computer and telephone equipment.

Richardson, the team's one-time director of technical services, faces up to 25 years in prison for alleged grand larceny, falsifying business records and other crimes. Co-defendant Haim Shaked, 47, of Brooklyn, a vendor who did business with the Mets, faced the same possible sentence as Richardson.

3:45:08 PM