USC FOOTBALL

USC football recruit found guilty in street robbery

Dominguez High star Maurice Simmons awaits Aug. 28 sentencing. Simmons is not expected to be admitted to the university.
By David Wharton, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 7, 2008
A Compton jury Wednesday found USC linebacker recruit Maurice Simmons guilty of two felonies and a misdemeanor in connection with a street robbery in March.

Simmons' codefendant, Lamont Lee Hall, also was found guilty.

 
Simmons, a Compton Dominguez High graduate, had been charged with felony robbery, assault with a firearm and a misdemeanor charge of allowing someone to bring a gun into his car. He is in police custody without bail, pending sentencing scheduled for Aug. 28. He faces a maximum 7 1/2 years in prison, according to prosecutor Patrick Frey.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies arrested Simmons and Hall after they robbed a man at gunpoint on a Compton street. Though Simmons was not alleged to have handled the gun, authorities said they found the firearm and the victim's belongings in his car.

USC Coach Pete Carroll called it "the most unfortunate news we could get for Maurice and for his family. We feel sorry for everything they have to go through."

Simmons is not expected to be admitted to the university

david.wharton@latimes.com





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