Quick Hitters
Lawyer sentenced to 5 years for scamming Barkley, others
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A lawyer convicted of swindling NBA star Charles Barkley and using the name of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to bolster an investment scam was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre also ordered Donald Watkins to pay about $14 million in restitution.
Prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of 17½ years for Watkins and 6½ years for his son, Donald Watkins Jr. Both were convicted on fraud and conspiracy charges earlier this year. The two men stole more than $15 million from investors and a bank, prosecutors said.
Bowdre said she took the elder man’s age, 70, into consideration in imposing a lighter sentence, but the term was stiffer than the home confinement requested by Watkins.
The younger Watkins was sentenced later Tuesday to 27 months in prison.
Barkley, who grew up near Birmingham and now works as a television analyst, described himself as a friend of the elder Watkins, who has split time living in both Alabama and Atlanta.
Barkley lost more than $6 million in investments and loans, prosecutors said, and so did other professional athletes including former NFL players Takeo Spikes and Bryan Thomas and former NBA star Damon Stoudamire.
Vikings RB Roc Thomas gets 3-game suspension
EAGAN, Minn. — Minnesota Vikings running back Roc Thomas has been suspended for the first three games of the regular season for violating the NFL’s policy and program on substances of abuse.
The league announced the punishment Tuesday, the week before training camp begins. Thomas can participate in preseason practices and games. If he makes the team he’d be eligible to return to action Sept. 23.
Thomas was sentenced to three years of probation in May after pleading guilty to fifth-degree felony possession of marijuana. He was arrested at his apartment in January, when police officers found 143 grams of the drug.
Petitions delivered to soccer federation demanding equal pay
CHICAGO — Fans of the women’s World Cup championship soccer team delivered petitions to U.S. Soccer Federation headquarters in Chicago that demanded equal pay for the players.
Wearing a red women’s team jersey, 12-year-old Greta Lindall on Tuesday told fans that members of the team are heroes. She added no one can criticize their skills because they are the best in the word, and the next step is “to pay them like it.”
The demonstrators later delivered a petition with 200,000 signatures to USSF employees inside.
The Soccer Federation has come under fire for paying the women’s team less than the men’s team, which failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
Anaheim Ducks make signings
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Veteran defenseman Michael Del Zotto has agreed to a one-year contract to return to the Anaheim Ducks.
Centers Chase De Leo and Justin Kloos and defenseman Chris Wideman also signed Tuesday with Anaheim.
Del Zotto had three assists in 12 games last season with the Ducks, who acquired him from Vancouver in January and traded him to St. Louis in February. The 10-year NHL veteran didn’t play for the Blues in the postseason while they won the Stanley Cup.
De Leo became the fourth Southern California native to play for the Ducks last season.