Coach at Cerritos College Arrested on Felony Charges

An assistant football coach at Cerritos College was arrested Monday on felony charges of obtaining more than $150,000 in federal grants for 13 players who were ineligible for financial aid, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said.

Patrick Callahan, 57, defensive coordinator and coach of defensive backs at Cerritos, was taken into custody at his home in Artesia on a complaint charging him with 13 counts of conspiracy and 13 counts of grand theft, Deputy Dist. Atty. Leonard Torrealba said in a news release.

Callahan, a Cerritos assistant for 16 years, was held in lieu of $70,000 bail. His arraignment was pending. A conviction could result in up to 11 years in prison.

The 13 players were not named in the complaint and were not under investigation, authorities said.

Prosecutors accused Callahan of fraudulently obtaining grant money between July 1999 and March 2004.

The school said in a statement that it had fully cooperated with a law enforcement investigation for three years.

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John Daly sued the Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville and its website, contending he was defamed by columnist Mike Freeman, who called the golfer a thug who allegedly beat women.

The suit was filed July 26 in Duval County (Fla.) Circuit Court and seeks an unspecified amount in excess of $15,000 -- the minimum for filing a circuit court suit -- and a jury trial.

Prosecutors in Knoxville, Tenn., dropped a felony aggravated assault charge against University of Tennessee linebacker Jerod Mayo and reduced the charge against defensive end Robert Ayers to misdemeanor assault in a case stemming from a fight at a campus party in March.

Ayers pleaded guilty to the lesser charge and has about 12 months to pay court costs and make restitution to the victim.

Coach Phillip Fulmer said in a statement that school-imposed penalties against Ayers included sitting out the first two games of the season and indefinite probation. Mayo was not suspended from the team.

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NCAA Football

Florida A&M; volunteered to strip its football program of 28 scholarships over three years and impose a one-year postseason ban on its men’s basketball team as the school conceded a “widespread” lack of institutional control.

The school fired football coach Billy Joe several weeks ago as part of its effort to avoid additional penalties for more than 200 violations that surfaced in nearly every sport.

The NCAA is investigating the school and is expected to rule in the fall.

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Tennis

Andre Agassi withdrew from the Legg Mason Tennis Classic at Washington because he wants to rest his back.

Agassi, 35, won the Mercedes-Benz Cup at UCLA by beating Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, 6-4, 7-5, in the final Sunday. It was Agassi’s first tournament since he limped away from a first-round loss at the French Open in May because of an inflamed sciatic nerve.

In the first round at Washington, James Blake defeated Jean-Rene Lisnard of France, 6-4, 6-3; Paul Goldstein eliminated Alejandro Falla of Colombia, 6-3, 6-2; Ivo Karlovic of Croatia beat Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3; and Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden beat Jeff Morrison, 6-3, 6-4.

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Women’s Basketball

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Dawn Staley was traded by the WNBA’s Charlotte Sting (3-20) to Houston (14-10) for the Comets’ first-round pick in 2006 along with Kirsten Rasmussen and Adrienne Goodson. Staley, 35, who is also the Temple women’s basketball coach, is considering retiring from the WNBA after the season.