It’s No Contest for Price, Ghezzi in Parking Scam

UCLA football players Durell Price and James Ghezzi and two former Bruins, after two continuances and six weeks, pleaded no contest Tuesday in Los Angeles Municipal Court to illegally possessing handicapped-parking placards and got the same sentence as the nine teammates who took the plea bargain on July 28.

Price, the starting fullback, and Ghezzi, a reserve offensive lineman, were given 200 hours of community service, a $1,485 fine and two years’ probation. Former Bruins Mark Reynosa and DuVal Hicks, who were also part of the original 11 charged on July 8, got the same plea bargain.

Craig Walendy, also scheduled for arraignment Tuesday, rescheduled for Sept. 30. The five charged Monday--Cade McNown, Larry Atkins, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Skip Hicks and current Bruin defensive back Eric Whitfield--also have a Sept. 30 date.

The pleas by Price, Ghezzi, Reynosa and DuVal Hicks bring to 13 the number of convictions in the highly publicized misdemeanor case, one that is still open as the L.A. City Attorney’s office contemplates actions against other players. Six others have been charged so far.

“I didn’t feel like I dragged it out unnecessarily,” Price said. “After talking to [his lawyer, Robert Shapiro] the first time, he felt like he needed to take some time to look at it. I agreed.”

Until this week.

“Like I told the lawyer today,” Price said, “ ‘Whatever you’ve got to do, this has to be the last day we’re dealing with this.’ I wanted to get it over with.”

Said Ghezzi, who was also represented by Shapiro: “I’m just glad to have it over with.”

The two close this chapter on the case, still needing to complete the community service, the day after their two-game suspensions imposed by university officials came to an end. It also came the same day Bruin Coach Bob Toledo blamed the press for continued bad publicity--and one day after the additional set of charges were filed against former players that allegedly showed a pattern of abuse with the placards back to 1996.

“It’s amazing to me what [the media] are trying to do to our program,” Toledo said. “What are they trying to prove? Why don’t they let it die? The kids have been punished. They’ve suffered severely. To bring it up again and again, it’s absolutely absurd.”