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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html

Young convicted in recruiting trial

Posted: Wednesday February 2, 2005 3:42PM; Updated: Wednesday February 2, 2005 10:10PM

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- A federal jury convicted millionaire businessman Logan Young on Wednesday of paying $150,000 to get a top football recruit for Alabama.

The jury deliberated for about 5½ hours before returning the verdict.

<!--startclickprintexclude-->Young, 64, was convicted of conspiracy to commit racketeering (by breaking state bribery laws), crossing state lines to commit racketeering and arranging bank withdrawals to hide a crime.

Young could receive prison time and a large fine. No date was scheduled for sentencing.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, but federal guidelines would call for a much lighter sentence.

While the jury convicted Young on three criminal charges it still was undecided on a "forfeiture count," common in racketeering convictions, that would require Young to pay the government $150,000, the amount of money used in the conspiracy.

The jury was told to return Thursday to make that decision. In the meantime, U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Breen left a gag order he issued at the beginning of the trial in place, barring the prosecution and defense from talking with the media.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Godwin, the chief prosecutor for the trial, asked Breen to set a "substantial" cash bond for Young while he awaits sentencing.

Breen rejected that request, saying Young does not present a flight risk. Young has remained free awaiting trial without bond since his indictment in October 2003.

Defense lawyers described Young during the trial as a heavy drinker who boasted about Alabama football and routinely made large cash withdrawals from his bank accounts.

Godwin also asked Breen to order Young to refrain from drinking while awaiting sentencing, but the judge instead told him to avoid "excessive" alcohol use.

The highly publicized recruitment case coincidentally ended in jurors' hands on college football's National Signing Day.

Defense attorneys used closing arguments to highlight a history of lying by the government's chief witness.

But prosecutors said bank and phone records bolstered the testimony of former high school head coach Lynn Lang.

Lang testified that Young gave him a series of cash payments below the $10,000 threshold for IRS reporting to get highly recruited defensive lineman Albert Means to sign with Alabama in 2000.

Lang told jurors he received money from two other colleges, Georgia and Kentucky, and offers of cash, jobs or other incentives from Arkansas, Memphis, Mississippi, Michigan State and Tennessee.

Former coaches Rip Scherer of Memphis and Jim Donnan of Georgia, and former Alabama assistant Ivy Williams testified for the defense that Lang was lying.

Lang has pleaded guilty to conspiracy in Means' recruitment and is cooperating with prosecutors as he awaits sentencing.

Defense lawyer James Neal told the jury that Lang lied to the NCAA, Memphis school officials and others before testifying against Young.

Godwin introduced telephone records showing numerous calls between phones belonging to Lang and Young.

He also put on testimony about a series of cash withdrawals from Young's bank accounts, some only a day apart and totaling more than $270,000. Bank records also showed cash deposits by Lang of more than $47,000.

Means, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, also testified for the prosecution. He admitted that someone else took his college entrance exam for him, an idea that Lang said came from Williams, and that he let his high school coach pick his college for him.

Means spent a year at Alabama before transferring to Memphis when reports of payoffs to Lang became public.

Alabama's recruitment of Means became part of an NCAA investigation that led to sanctions in 2002, depriving the Crimson Tide of scholarships and bowl eligibility.