Man Guilty in Recruiting Case

A federal jury in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday convicted millionaire businessman Logan Young, accused of paying $150,000 to get a top football recruit for Alabama.

The jury deliberated for about 5 1/2 hours before returning the verdict.

Young, 64, was convicted of conspiracy to commit racketeering by breaking state bribery laws, crossing state lines to commit racketeering and arranging bank withdrawals to cover up a crime.

Young could receive prison time and a large fine. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, but federal guidelines would call for a much lighter sentence.

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Pro Football

Businessman Bill Chadwick was elected president of the Coliseum Commission as the agency and the NFL seek to hammer out the details of a potential lease deal.

The Coliseum is one of four sites under NFL consideration, along with Anaheim, the Rose Bowl and Carson. The NFL has said it intends to decide on a local stadium site by May, hoping to get a team playing here by the 2008, though league officials have also said that timetable was not set in stone.

Chadwick will serve as commission president for one year. He takes over the post from Los Angeles Councilman Bernard Parks.

Miami Dolphin cornerback Patrick Surtain has received permission to seek a trade because the team is pessimistic about reaching agreement on a contract extension, his agent, Gary Uberstine, said.... Jason Garrett, best known as Troy Aikman’s backup with the Dallas Cowboys, was hired by the Dolphins as quarterbacks coach.

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Baseball

The Dodgers agreed to contract terms with Japanese third baseman Norihiro Nakamura and will announce the signing at a Dodger Stadium news conference today. Nakamura, 31, hit 307 home runs and won four Gold Gloves in 13 years in the Japanese League.

St. Louis Cardinal General Manager Walt Jocketty agreed to a three-year contract, less than a month after Manager Tony La Russa also accepted a new deal that runs through 2007.

Reliever Jim Mecir, who played for the Oakland Athletics last season, agreed to a $1.1-million, one-year contract with the Florida Marlins.

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Soccer

Four referees and 14 players are among 25 people suspected of fixing at least 10 games in Germany’s widening soccer scandal, prosecutors said.

Police raided the homes of 19 people across the country and seized bank accounts and property worth about $3.17 million, the Berlin prosecutors’ office said in a statement. There were no arrests.

Argentina will face Mexico in a friendly match March 9 in Los Angeles, the Argentine federation said, although a venue has yet to be confirmed.

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Miscellany

Canadian authorities announced that a Calgary man had been fined $3,000 for trying to smuggle steroids and human growth hormone into that country.

Derek Arthur Dueck, 31, pleaded guilty in a provincial court to one count of smuggling a controlled substance and another of making a false statement, Canada’s border patrol agency announced in a statement.

Fernando Vargas, the former world light-middleweight champion who has been out because of a back injury and has not fought since Dec. 12, 2003, will return to the ring March 26 in a 160-pound bout at Corpus Christi, Texas, against Ray Joval.

Yvon DesRochers, the man who led Montreal’s unsuccessful bid to play host to the 2005 world swimming championships, was found dead, the organizing committee said in a statement.