San Diego

Former Charger Johnny Rodgers was given a six-month sentence in County Jail for pointing a gun at a Cox Cable technician who came to his home to turn off service for non-payment.

Rodgers, 35, a winner of the Heisman Trophy, was fined $1,000 and placed on three years’ probation by San Diego Superior Court Judge Jack Levitt.

Rodgers also was ordered to serve 100 hours of volunteer work for the United Way, which must be completed by Sept. 1. Levitt suspended a two-year term in state prison and gave Rodgers credit for 36 days already spent in jail.

The charges stem from an Oct. 5, 1985, incident in which Rodgers ordered Jaime Roxas, a Cox Cable technician, down from a pole at gunpoint when Roxas tried to disconnect Rodgers’ cable service because he had not paid a $200 bill.

Levitt rebuked Rodgers for trying to use the Heisman Trophy, which he was awarded in 1972, as a springboard for sympathy or favoritism from the jurors.

“No credit will be given for the Heisman Trophy. He has ridden that horse way too long. He will be treated like any other American citizen,” Levitt said before passing sentence.

Levitt, who called Rodgers unstable and untruthful, said he would require psychological evaluations during Rodgers’ probation, with progress reports supplied to the courts.

Levitt also stipulated that Rogers must participate in an alcohol rehabilitation program and must to submit to chemical testing for drugs and alcohol.

Rodgers was convicted of grand larceny in 1972 in Lancaster, Neb., for which he was placed on two years’ probation.

He was convicted Jan. 27 of assault with a deadly weapon and being an ex-felon in possession of a gun. The jury acquitted Rodgers, however, of displaying a weapon in a threatening manner.

Levitt found him in contempt of court twice during the trial, in which Rodgers acted as his own attorney. The judge fined him $500 and sentenced him to jail for five days for displaying what Levitt described as “a very flippant, contemptuous attitude.”

“If he (Rodgers) fouls up on any of his probation conditions, he will go to prison for two years. He should go there now, but the judge has been very merciful to Mr. Rodgers,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Anear.

“Generally, ex-felons who commit crimes go to prison.”

Rodgers’ attorney, Henry Ramirez, who was hired only for the sentencing, said he will seek a bail motion within five days, in order to get Rodgers out of County Jail.