|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Sellers indicted on nine charges
Updated: Saturday February 10, 2001 3:25 AM
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) -- Former New Mexico quarterback Donald Sellers, a wide receiver for the Las Vegas Outlaws of the XFL, has been indicted on nine counts of sexual misconduct involving four Arizona teen-agers, a newspaper reported Saturday. If convicted, Sellers, 26, could face up to 22 years in prison. The indictment was handed down by a Maricopa County (Ariz.) grand jury alleging sexual contacts in late 1999 and early 2000, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Sellers faces seven counts of sexual conduct with a minor, one count of sexual assault and one count of attempted sexual abuse in the Dec. 6 indictment, the Nevada paper said. The Arizona Republic had reported in August that Sellers faced charges for an incident on Feb. 18, 2000, in which a 14-year-old girl told police Sellers hugged and kissed her at Greenfield Junior High School in Gilbert, Ariz. The Review-Journal report says the four victims on which the indictment is based were between 15 and 18 years old at the time of the alleged offenses. On Dec. 20, the Maricopa County Superior Court released Sellers on his own recognizance and ordered him to return to court Feb. 9. "They gave him permission to travel for employment purposes," defense attorney Tracey Westerhausen said. Sellers has declined comment. Trey Fitz-Gerald, director of communications for the Outlaws, said Sellers planned to speak with his attorney next week. He said Sellers was confident the matter would be resolved. "This is the first I've heard of it," said Bob Ackles, Outlaws' general manager. "Obviously, it's a distraction," Ackles said, "and it's something we'll have to look into, and we will communicate with the league about it." Bill Fitzgerald, spokesman for the Maricopa County district attorney's office, said Arizona law bars prosecutors from commenting on the case. XFL officials were reserved in their comments. "The league has a policy that there are no felons in the league," league spokesman Jeff Shapes said. "But if a person is accused of something, it doesn't mean he did it." Shapes refused to comment on any repercussions Sellers might face if convicted. Sellers played at New Mexico in 1996 and 1997, setting school records with a 61.6 percent pass completion rate and an average of 6.6 yards per play. At the time, Sellers was the only player in school history to throw for more than 4,000 yards and run for more than 1,200. After leaving New Mexico, he was drafted by the St. Louis Rams as a wide receiver. He also had tryouts with the Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos and Tennessee Titans. Philadelphia released Sellers in September 1999, the Broncos last March. The Titans released him last summer. Sellers played with the Scottish Claymores in the NFL Europe league in the spring of 1999.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
