Lawrence Taylor Pleads Guilty to Filing False Tax Return

Former NFL All-Pro linebacker Lawrence Taylor pleaded guilty Wednesday to filing a false federal income tax return in 1990.

Taylor, 38, faces up to three years in prison and a $100,000 fine when sentenced in September. Under a plea agreement with prosecutors, Taylor could receive a lesser sentence if he cooperates in an ongoing investigation.

Taylor remains free on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond. He was ordered by U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez to surrender his passport and submit to random drug testing.

Taylor admitted he failed to report $48,000 in income from his now-closed restaurant, L.T. Sports Pub in East Rutherford, N.J. Prosecutors say Taylor’s gross income that year was $1.39 million.

Lawyers for Christy Brzonkala, a former Virginia Tech student who said she was raped by two football players, asked a federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., to reinstate her lawsuit against the players and the school.

Brzonkala is the first alleged sexual assault victim to sue under the federal Violence Against Women Act, which Congress passed in 1994.

The law allows victims of gender-based crimes to sue their attackers in federal court.

Pro Football

Dallas receiver Michael Irvin said that his football career is on hold until he can find a reason to continue playing.

“Right now, I just don’t have the intensity and emotion I used to have. I just need time right now to decide what I want to do and if I can find the love,” Irvin said, adding that he doesn’t know when he’ll make a decision.

“I hope I just can go on and live my life, but I know that’s not my reality anymore.”

Should Irvin decide to retire, he would forfeit the nearly $5.5 million left on his contract.

Irvin may join teammate Erik Williams as a plaintiff in two lawsuits stemming from a recanted rape allegation. A former topless dancer accused Irvin of holding a gun to her head while Williams and another man sexually assaulted her in late December. She later recanted and faces trial on a perjury charge next month.

The Philadelphia Eagles signed Ian Beckles, a free-agent guard who spent the last seven seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and draft picks Damien Robinson, Koy Detmer, Byron Capers and Deauntae Brown. . . . The New Orleans Saints cut wide receiver Haywood Jeffires, defensive end Fred Stokes, safeties Sean Lumpkin and Derrick Hoskins and tight end Henry Lusk. . . . The Washington Redskins saved about $1.35 million under the salary cap by releasing fullback Marc Logan, tight end Scott Galbraith and defensive end Sterling Palmer.

Track and Field

Decathlon world-record holder Dan O’Brien said he will not compete in next week’s U.S. championships because of an apparent stress fracture.

The withdrawal means O’Brien, the three-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist, will miss August’s world championships in Athens.

Only athletes who compete in the U.S. championships June 11-15 at Indianapolis are eligible for the American team.

Primo Nebiolo, president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, said that last Sunday’s $2-million showdown between Donovan Bailey and Michael Johnson in a 150-meter race was a “circus” and that a rematch will not be sanctioned because the race broke IAAF rules by having only two runners, instead of at least four.

Miscellany

Atlanta, which lost the Flames to Calgary in 1980, moved to the front of the NHL expansion race when a deal for a $213-million arena to be built on the site of the Omni was approved by the Fulton County Commission. . . . Groups from Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Miami, Washington and San Francisco are among 14 that submitted bids to play host to games in the 1999 Women’s World Cup soccer championship.

Names in the News

New England Revolution Coach Thomas Rongen must sit out one Major League Soccer game and pay a $500 fine resulting from an argument with a referee during a game last Sunday. . . . U.S. District Judge Dickerson Debevoise ruled that boxer Virgil Hill can reclaim the International Boxing Federation light-heavyweight championship, which he had recently vacated, but must defend the title against No. 1 contender William Guthrie on or before July 19. . . . Former Buffalo Bill quarterback Jim Kelly said that his 3 1/2-month old son, Hunter James Kelly, has been found to have cerebral palsy. . . . Oregon State assistant basketball coach Rich Wold has resigned to join the staff at Cal State Sacramento.