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A federal judge decried society’s attitude toward...

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From Staff and Wire Reports

A federal judge decried society’s attitude toward law-breaking athletes in telling an Atlanta Falcon draft pick he must go to prison for dealing crack cocaine.

Wide receiver Walter Sutton of Southwest State University in Minnesota was a 10th-round selection this week even though he pleaded guilty to drug charges last fall and was ordered to begin serving a nine-year sentence next January.

The Falcons said they had received misleading information about Sutton’s legal status and will not pursue signing him.

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Sutton was sentenced in February to nine years in prison, but U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich allowed him to return to college to get his degree in sociology before reporting to prison on Jan. 28, 1992.

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