Baxter gets 60-day prison sentence in gun case

By Jaime CÃ¡rdenas

Sept. 1, 2007 12 AM PT

From Times Staff and Wire Reports

A federal judge in Greenbelt, Md., sentenced former University of Maryland basketball standout Lonny Baxter to 60 days in prison on Friday for illegally shipping firearms, a ruling that cost Baxter his contract with a Spanish team.

U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte based the sentence on Baxter’s history with firearms and his actions in the case.

“You are in a sense on injured reserve,” Messitte told Baxter, who pleaded guilty in July. “You have in effect injured yourself.”

Baxter’s Spanish league contract was rescinded, according to a statement on the website of his team in Barcelona, DKV Joventut de Badalona. Baxter, who had already begun training with the team, is scheduled to report to prison by Oct. 1.

Baxter apologized to Messitte before the sentencing, saying he had an “obsession” with guns.

The 28-year-old had pleaded guilty to sending three handguns and a rifle from Houston to College Park, Md., using Federal Express in July 2006. Federal law requires senders to inform shippers if a delivery contains firearms.

New York Knicks center Randolph Morris pleaded guilty to reckless driving and agreed to pay a $100 fine. Morris didn’t attend the preliminary hearing in Lexington, Ky. His attorney entered the guilty plea on his behalf.

Morris, the former University of Kentucky standout, was arrested Aug. 7 in Lexington after an officer spotted him driving 62 mph -- 17 mph over the speed limit -- and failing to use a turn signal as he drove down an exit ramp.

Boston Celtics forward James Posey was suspended by the NBA for one game for pleading no contest to reckless driving stemming from an incident in April.

Posey’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, said his client will appeal, calling the April 9 arrest in Miami Beach a “bad arrest.” Posey was arrested on drunk driving charges while he was a member of the Miami Heat.

“He wasn’t driving,” Bartelstein told the Associated Press. “This is a case where we need to make sure the NBA has all the information. Once they learn all the facts and what really happened, they will eliminate the suspension.”

The NBA said Posey would serve the suspension, without pay, for the Celtics’ regular-season opener against Washington on Nov. 2 in Boston.

SOCCER

Dos Santos, Vela are set for debuts

September is going to be a memorable month for Giovani dos Santos and Carlos Vela. The two forwards will make their Spanish league debuts this weekend and their Mexican national team debut the week after that.

Barcelona’s Dos Santos, 18, and Osasuna’s Vela, 20, were two notable additions to the El Tri roster by Mexico Coach Hugo Sanchez.

They are also two of only five European-based players on a 30-man roster that Sanchez chose for Mexico’s next two international friendlies -- against Panama on Sept. 9 in Puebla and against Brazil on Sept. 12 in Foxborough, Mass.

The other European-based players are Nery Castillo, Andres Guardado and Carlos Salcido. Mexico’s usual team captain, and Dos Santos’ Barcelona teammate, Rafael Marquez was not on the roster.

After Brazil, Mexico’s next international friendly will be against China at the Coliseum on Oct. 17.

Chivas USA midfielder Ramon Nunez was called up by the Honduran national team for friendlies against Costa Rica and Ecuador this month.

-- Jaime CÃ¡rdenas

Filippo Inzaghi scored the tying goal in the 55th minute, and AC Milan beat Sevilla, 3-1, at Monte Carlo to win the European Super Cup for a fifth time. Marek Jankulovski scored the eventual game-winner for Milan, the European Champions League winner.

PRO BASKETBALL

Indiana beats Detroit, 75-65, in Game 1

The Indiana Fever is one win from its first trip to the WNBA finals. Tamika Catchings had 22 points and 11 rebounds to help the Fever defeat the Detroit Shock, 75-65, at Indianapolis in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The Shock beat the Fever, 2-0, in the first round of last season’s playoffs on the way to its second championship in four years. Now, Detroit must win at home on Sunday to have a chance to repeat.

The disappearance of Orlando Magic guard Jameer Nelson’s father has mystified his co-workers at a Delaware River tugboat company, where he was last seen Thursday walking across a dock in Chester, Pa.

Divers, the U.S. Coast Guard and searchers with dogs looked for Floyd “Pete” Nelson in and around the fast-moving river. The 57-year-old had been working in a dry dock area and was last seen walking toward a tug used as a break room.

MISCELLANY

Marleau agrees to extension with Sharks

Center Patrick Marleau agreed to a two-year, $12.6-million contract extension with the San Jose Sharks, keeping the longtime captain with the club through 2010.

Justin Wilson clinched a spot on the front row for Sunday’s Champ Car World Series Dutch Grand Prix by winning the provisional pole during the first day of qualifying. He had a fast lap of 1 minute 30.656 seconds around the 2.83-mile track at Assen, at an average speed of 112.381 mph.

PASSINGS

Gay Brewer, 75, won 1967 Masters

Gay Brewer, the 1967 Masters champion, died Friday at his home in Lexington, Ky., after a fight with lung cancer. He was 75. Story in Section B.