Lewis’ Lawyer: Deal Reached to Drop Murder Charges

An attorney for Baltimore Raven linebacker Ray Lewis said Sunday night in Atlanta that a deal had been struck and the murder charges against him will be dropped and he will plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice.

Don Samuel, one of Lewis’ attorneys, told the Associated Press that Lewis would not do any jail time and would receive a maximum term of 12 months’ probation under first offender status.

In addition to the murder charge, aggravated assault charges against the linebacker would be dropped in exchange for his testimony about what he saw the night of the murders.

Lewis will be required to testify against his two fellow defendants, Samuel said.

Samuel said prosecutor Paul Howard told him that Lewis would be the next witness to testify. Howard could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Prosecutors have presented little proof that Lewis assaulted anyone during a Jan. 31 street fight that left two men dead.

Pro Football

First-round draft pick Peter Warrick, the wide receiver from Florida State, signed a seven-year contract worth $42 million with the Cincinnati Bengals, according to the team’s Web site. A formal announcement will be made today. Warrick will get more than $10 million in signing and reporting bonuses this year, said his agent, Jim Gould.

The Washington Redskins have scheduled a series of meetings this week with the agent for Deion Sanders in the hope of signing the Pro Bowl cornerback, the team said.

Soccer

Cindy Parlow scored a hat trick for the second consecutive game, leading the U.S. women’s team to a 5-0 rout of New Zealand in the Pacific Cup at Sydney, Australia. Parlow also scored three goals in Friday’s 9-1 victory over Canada.

In other games, China maintained its unbeaten stretch with a 2-0 victory over Japan, and Canada upset Australia, 2-0.

In a Major League Soccer game at Chicago, the Fire beat the Kansas City Wizards, 3-2, to hand the Wizards (10-1-2) their first loss of the season.

Richard Dunne and Domonic Foley scored in the second half Sunday as Ireland rallied for a 2-2 tie with Mexico in the U.S. Cup at Chicago.

In World Cup South American qualifying, Argentina beat Bolivia, 1-0, at Buenos Aires, to remain atop the standings after three rounds. Brazil defeated host Peru, 1-0, at Lima; and Colombia beat visiting Venezuela, 3-0, at Bogota.

The Netherlands defeated Poland, 3-1, at Lausanne, Switzerland, in a final tuneup for the upcoming Euro 2000 Championships. . . . France, also warming up for Euro 2000, beat Japan, 4-2, on penalty kicks after a 2-2 draw in the first match of the Hassan II tournament at Casablanca, Morocco.

Running

Belay Wolasha of Ethiopia, who had to make a bathroom stop halfway through the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in San Diego, made up a huge deficit to win in 2 hours 12 minutes 45 seconds.

Wolasha was able to make up so much ground because Kenyans Philip Tanui, the runner-up, and Philip Tarus, the two-time defending champion, pushed each other too hard in the heat.

Miscellany

Cuba’s Andy Morales, a 24-year-old third baseman and designated hitter who hit a key home run last year against the Baltimore Orioles, was reportedly aboard a U.S. Coast Guard cutter as one of 31 would-be defectors found on a boat stranded near Key West, Fla. The Cubans are being interviewed by INS officials on the cutter, an INS spokesman said.

Outlasting a rain delay and a lightning storm, senior Cory Peck of Sioux City North High in Iowa tied a national record with five home runs in a 19-6 victory over Sioux Central Saturday. He then homered in his first at-bat in a second game against Western Christian. He had two varsity homers in his career before Saturday.

Mexican cyclist Fernando Avila, 25, who had qualified to compete in the Olympic Games, died of head injuries after being hit by a car in Mexico City. Avila was bicycling with 10 other cyclists along part of the Mexico City ring highway when he was hit. . . . Henk Vogels of Australia won the First Union USPRO Championship at Philadelphia, covering 156 miles in 5 hours 52 minutes 11 seconds to earn $33,500 in the richest one-day U.S. cycling race.

In a WNBA game before 15,329 at Washington, Chamique Holdsclaw scored 22 points to lead the Mystics to a 76-67 victory over the New York Liberty. . . . The Tampa Bay Lightning traded goaltender Rich Parent to the Ottawa Senators for a seventh-round pick in this year’s NHL draft.