14 to Plead Guilty in Parking Scam

Fourteen current and former UCLA football players will plead guilty to misdemeanor charges for using handicapped-parking placards to get better parking on campus, a source close to the case said.

Accused of illegally obtaining and possessing the placards, the players will enter their pleas at an arraignment at 8:30 a.m. today in Los Angeles Municipal Court.

In accepting an offer from the Los Angeles city attorney’s office, each will be sentenced to 200 hours of community service and will pay about $500 in fines and penalties, the source said.

“That’s a lot of hours . . . that’s five weeks full time,” the source added. “Most people caught with placards would probably pay the fine and that’s it.”

The maximum penalty is six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. The city attorney’s office declined to comment.

As part of the plea bargain, the players will devote 100 or more of their community service hours to the Special Olympics, the source said. They reportedly met with Rafer Johnson, 1960 Olympic decathlon champion and a Special Olympics board member, to discuss the arrangement.

Johnson could not be reached for comment. The UCLA alumnus, who serves on at least one university board, is expected to accompany the athletes to court and make a statement afterward.

The scheme was discovered six months ago when UCLA police spotted a car with an improperly displayed handicapped placard entering a parking garage. The driver, who was not disabled, told officers he had borrowed the placard.

Further investigation pointed toward the football players. Campus police compared the team’s roster to a computer list of disabled drivers kept by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The matching names included Durell Price, a starting fullback; Oscar Cabrera, a starting guard; Ryan Nece, a starting linebacker; and Ryan Roque, listed No. 1 on the depth chart at cornerback in spring practice. Four of the athletes, among them fullback Craig Walendy, graduated last spring.

The players allegedly falsified DMV applications, fabricating physicians’ names and listing bogus ailments ranging from asthma to lower back pain to Bell’s palsy, a nerve disorder that causes facial paralysis. Prosecutors filed charges earlier this month.

UCLA administrators refused to speak publicly for days after the news broke but eventually reacted strongly.

“I’m very angered and shamed,” Athletic Director Pete Dalis said. “It’s hard to imagine why these kids would do this.”

A further check of DMV records by The Times revealed that former Bruin stars Cade McNown, Skip Hicks and Larry Atkins possessed placards at times when they were apparently fit enough to play.

McNown told the Chicago Tribune that he needed handicapped parking after suffering an unspecified injury in the winter of 1997 and used the privilege only a few times. Records indicate he was practicing with the team, completing 18 of 21 passes in one scrimmage, while in possession of a valid placard.

Administrators say misuse of placards is nothing new on the Westwood campus, where parking is expensive and demand often exceeds the supply of 22,577 spaces. Placards can be used to park in handicapped-reserved and other preferred spots. Police regularly conduct stings to catch offenders.

Most of the players scheduled to appear in court today, while not defending their actions, said they used the placards only to park in metered spaces, according to several sources.

The 10 players who have not graduated face additional punishment from the university.