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Small-er sentence Former Illinois player receives less time for cooperation
Posted: Friday November 05, 1999 07:29 PM
URBANA, Ill. (AP) -- Former University of Illinois basketball player Ervin Small faces more than four years in prison on a cocaine charge after assisting authorities in prosecuting other drug traffickers. U.S. District Judge Michael McCuskey imposed a 51-month term during a hearing Thursday. The 32-year-old Small could have received a sentence of between 11 and 14 years if he hadn't cooperated with the authorities. But Assistant U.S. Attorney David Hoff said Small had "placed himself at great risk" by assisting police and testifying before a grand jury against others currently being prosecuted. "There's no question this was dangerous. Threats have been made to the defendant and his family," Hoff said. Small pleaded guilty last June to possession with intent to distribute cocaine. He has been in jail since. Acting on a tip, authorities arrested Small on Dec. 4 as he returned from Chicago with cocaine packaged for resale. Small played at Illinois from 1988 through 1990 and was a member of the team that went to the 1989 Final Four. He had worked for almost six years as a correctional officer at the Danville Correctional Center before resigning in February. Police said there was no indication that Small had tried to distribute cocaine at the medium-security prison. During court Thursday, an emotional Small asked for forgiveness from his family and said he should have turned to them for help during troubled times. "I turned to people who didn't have Ervin Small's best interests at heart," he said.
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