FAA: Records Were Falsified for Pilots of Stewart’s Plane

A manager with the company that owned the Learjet in which golfer Payne Stewart and five others died in a 1999 crash falsified training records for the pilots, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

This marks the first time the government has publicly accused anyone of wrongdoing in connection with the crash on Oct. 25, 1999. The FBI and Transportation Department are still investigating.

The families of Stewart and three other victims also have sued the plane’s owner and operator.

FAA lawyer Raymond Veatch told a federal administrative judge Tuesday that James Watkins Sr. of SunJet Aviation filed false records about the amount of time he had spent training pilot Michael Kling and co-pilot Stephanie Bellegarrigue.

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A jury of five women and nine men was selected for the sexual assault trial of former Green Bay Packer tight end Mark Chmura, charged with sexually assaulting his children’s 17-year-old former baby-sitter during a drunken prom party. He could get up to 40 years in prison if convicted.

Chmura has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of third-degree sexual assault and child enticement.

Opening statements are set for today at the Waukesha County Courthouse in Wisconsin.

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Pitcher Armando Benitez of the New York Mets will surrender Monday on a third-degree assault charge filed by his former girlfriend, Stacey O’Neill, New York City Police said. . . . Rich Gale, who pitched two games for the Kansas City Royals in the 1980 World Series, reached a plea agreement in which an indecent conduct charge against him was dropped. Gale did not contest a disorderly conduct charge and paid a $50 fine after Maine authorities dropped the indecent conduct charge. He admitted no guilt in the agreement in October. . . . Linda Wagner, the lawyer who supplied a cell phone for former NFL quarterback Art Schlichter to place bets from jail, is under investigation by the Indiana Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Commission.

Miscellany

The Angels’ signing of first baseman Wally Joyner to a minor league contract is on hold after General Manager Bill Stoneman and Joyner’s agent, Barry Axelrod, negotiated for the second consecutive day.

The Angels also agreed to terms with relief pitcher Mike Holtz, avoiding arbitration.

After reaching the World Series for the first time in 14 years, the Mets raised their top ticket price $7 to $64. While the Mets had the top price for a regular seat at a New York ballpark last year, this season they come in $1 below the Yankees, who raised their best box seat price by $10 after winning their third consecutive World Series championship.

Washington Redskin cornerback Deion Sanders agreed to a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds and will report to spring training.

Australia’s Paul Gow shot a 12-under-par 60 in the first round of the Canon Challenge at Sydney to break the Australasian PGA Tour scoring record.

Olympic organizers in Salt Lake City are trying to make the best of their figure skating venue despite problems that obstruct views and leave skaters feeling as if they are performing in a deep pit.

Mexico, the opening opponent for the United States in the final round of World Cup qualifying, lost to Bulgaria, 2-0, in a soccer exhibition at Morelos, Mexico.

Marion Jones, the first woman to win five track and field medals at an Olympics, won the Jesse Owens International Trophy Award for the second time.

Martin Schmitt of Germany won a World Cup ski jumping event at Hakuba, Japan. . . . Swiss snowboarders Gilles Jaquet and Ursula Bruhin won parallel giant slalom titles in the world championships at Madonna Di Campiglio, Italy.