Game-Tampering Conviction Dismissed by Appeals Court

The game-tampering conviction of Atlanta sports agent Jim Abernethy was thrown out Friday by an Alabama state appeals court that said prosecutors “utterly and completely” failed to show a law was broken.

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, saying the state’s evidence showed Abernethy not innocent, held that he could not be retried on the charge.

“I said all along, I broke NCAA bylaws, I never broke any criminal laws,” Abernathy said.

Abernethy said from his Atlanta area home that he would continue as a sports agent “and there’s some contemplation in the future of maybe getting back into football.”

Attorney General Don Siegelman, whose office pushed for the state’s first prosecution of a sports agent for financial dealings with college athletes, said he would ask the Alabama Supreme Court to restore the conviction if the appeals court does not reconsider its decision.

Abernethy was sentenced to 1 year in prison and fined $2,000 after a Lee County circuit court jury convicted him earlier this year on a misdemeanor count of tampering with a sports event.

The case stemmed from Abernethy’s contacts with former Auburn football star cornerback Kevin Porter, who received $2,900 from Abernethy during his senior season in 1987. Because he accepted money in violation of National Collegiate Athletic Assn. rules, Porter was declared ineligible for Auburn’s Sugar Bowl game with Syracuse.