Businessman set for sentencing in recruiting scandal

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Posted 4:41PM on Thursday, June 9, 2005

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) A businessman convicted of buying a top football recruit for Alabama was set for sentencing Thursday in U.S. District Court. Logan Young, a longtime Crimson Tide booster, was convicted in February on money laundering and racketeering charges for paying a high school coach to send defensive lineman Albert Means of Memphis to Alabama. Young was charged with paying former coach Lynn Lang $150,000 to influence Means' choice of a college five years ago. The charges on which Young was convicted carry a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison, but such a sentence was unlikely for a first-time offender. His trial jury assessed a $96,000 penalty against him for structuring bank withdrawals to hide a crime. U.S. Attorney Terrell Harris said at the time of Young's conviction that the trial should let college boosters know the punishment for buying athletes can lead to more serious trouble than NCAA sanctions. ``Anyone who thinks about engaging in that practice ought to think twice about doing it,'' Harris said. Lang testified in court that other universities, including Georgia, Kentucky, Arkansas, Memphis, Mississippi, Michigan State and Tennessee, offered him money or jobs to get Means. No charges were filed against anyone from those schools and Lang's allegations were unsupported by other witnesses. Three former coaches, Rip Scherer of Memphis, Jim Donnan of Georgia and Ivy Williams, an Alabama assistant, accused him of lying. Means' recruitment became part of an NCAA investigation that led to sanctions against Alabama in 2002, costing the Crimson Tide scholarships and bowl appearances. Lang, former head coach at Trezevant High in Memphis, testified against Young while waiting to be sentenced on a guilty plea to crossing state lines as part of a racketeering conspiracy. Lang later was sentenced to two years probation and 500 hours of community service work after prosecutors supported his request to avoid prison. He said at sentencing that he amended his federal tax returns after his indictment and owed the IRS $60,000. Under the federal law to which he pleaded guilty, Lang was not required to make restitution. Young was convicted largely on Lang's testimony, plus records showing numerous bank transactions under the federal reporting limit of $10,000 and a long list of calls between phones registered to Young and Lang. (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)