Webber agrees to plea

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Webber agrees to plea

NBA star will avoid jail time

By David Runk, Associated Press, 7/15/2003

ETROIT -- In a deal expected to keep him out of prison, NBA All-Star Chris
Webber yesterday pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of lying about money he
repaid a Michigan booster.



Jury selection in Webber's federal perjury trial had been scheduled to start
today.

Instead, the Sacramento Kings' star acknowledged during yesterday's hearing
that he lied to a grand jury in 2000, when he said he didn't recall giving
money to booster Ed Martin, who died this year. Webber acknowledged he gave
Martin about $38,000 in 1994.

Webber originally was charged with lying to a grand jury about money
authorities say he received from Martin. Webber could have faced up to five
years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

''I'm relieved that it is in the process of being over,'' Webber said.

Webber, who had left knee surgery last month, used crutches to walk to a
podium in court. He was injured in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals
against Dallas.

He will face a fine in the agreement with prosecutors. US District Judge Nancy
Edmunds will decide whether the criminal contempt charge to which he pleaded
guilty is a felony or a misdemeanor. Sentencing was set for Sept. 16.

A perjury charge against Webber's father, Mayce Webber Jr., is expected to be
dropped.

Martin, who died Feb. 14 at age 69, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to
launder money. He admitted he took gambling money, combined it with other
funds and lent it to several college players.

The retired autoworker said he lent $616,000 to Webber and three other
Michigan players -- Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor, and Louis Bullock -- while
they were amateurs. Martin said he gave Webber and his family $280,000 from
1988-93, a period extending from his freshman year in high school through his
sophomore season at Michigan. He left for the NBA after that season.

Because of rules violations connected to the case, Michigan held its
basketball team out of the 2003 postseason, and the NCAA banned the Wolverines
from the 2004 postseason. The school also decided to forfeit 112
regular-season and tournament victories, plus its victory in the 1992 NCAA
semifinals. The NCAA also cut scholarships and put the school on probation.

Webber, who is in the second year of a seven-year, $123-million contract with
the Kings, has denied taking anything of significant value from Martin. During
his 2000 appearance before the grand jury investigating Martin, Webber said he
took money from Martin in high school, but could not remember if he took money
in college.

Martin's death left federal prosecutors without the only person who could
provide crucial information.

Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx

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