Plummer Charged With Sexual Abuse

Quarterback Jake Plummer, who led Arizona State to the Rose Bowl and was subsequently drafted by the Arizona Cardinals, was charged Wednesday on four felony counts of sexual abuse stemming from an incident in a nightclub.

The charges were announced by Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley, who said a settlement Plummer reached with three accusers didn’t free him from prosecution.

“There are not two systems of justice in Arizona--one for the rich, one for the poor,” Romley said.

Plummer also was charged in the criminal complaint with one count of misdemeanor assault. If convicted on all charges, he would face more than eight years in prison.

Three women claimed Plummer reached under their clothes while they danced. Last week, the women reached a civil settlement with Plummer and said through a lawyer they didn’t want to pursue criminal charges. A fourth alleged victim came forward later and made similar allegations against Plummer.

Plummer’s agent, Leigh Steinberg, released a statement from Plummer that said, “I cannot discuss the facts of this case outside of a courtroom, but after hearing all of the public discussion about this matter, I am anxious for the onset of the court proceedings. Once the truth is heard, I fully expect my name to be cleared.”

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U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Hillman ordered the NFL to produce documents that the Oakland Raiders intend to use in their defense against a lawsuit filed by the league in 1995.

The lawsuit includes a counter-suit by the Raiders in which the club is asking for damages up to half a billion dollars, claiming the league interfered with a planned move to Oakland in 1994, sabotaged a plan to build a football stadium at Hollywood Park in 1995, forcing the team to relocate to Oakland, and created, in the words of Raider attorney Joe Alioto, “an aura of uncertainty” in the Oakland area by filing its suit two days before the start of the 1995 regular season.

The league sued to establish that is not liable for the Raiders failure to move in 1994, and to determine what, if any, revenue-sharing funds it is entitled to as a result of the ’95 move.

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Kentucky circuit judge Greg Bartlett warned Cincinnati Red third baseman Willie Greene that he will spend five days in jail if he continues to violate court orders in a child-support case involving the player’s 2-year-old daughter.

Soccer

The Splash’s Continental Indoor Soccer League opener has been changed. The team’s June 18 game at Monterrey, which was to have been the opener, will be played Aug. 3. The Splash’s first two games of the season will be at the Pond of Anaheim, June 20 against Portland and June 22 against Seattle.

A failure to promptly renew immigration documents kept goalkeeper Jorge Campos from playing for the Galaxy last weekend after the end of his Mexican League season.

“I was taking care of my paperwork,” Campos said through an interpreter after practice at Azusa Pacific University. “I found out during the playoffs I needed to renew my visa. If you’re in the playoffs, it is going to be a lot tougher to take care of, so that’s why I had to do it the week after we were ousted.”

Campos’ Mexican League team, Atlante, was eliminated from the Mexican League playoffs May 18. Galaxy officials had hoped he would play last Sunday against the Columbus Crew.

South Korea advanced to the final round of Asia qualifying for the 1998 World Cup, defeating Hong Kong, 4-0, in Taejon, South Korea.

Football

The New Orleans Saints were further transformed into new Coach Mike Ditka’s image when wide receivers Michael Haynes and Torrance Small were cut and four players, including receivers Andre Hastings and Randal Hill agreed to terms.

The Saints, according to reports, will also sign cornerback Mickey Washington from the Jacksonville Jaguars and center Jerry Fontenot from the Chicago Bears.

The moves, coupled with the release of starting quarterback Jim Everett and cornerback Mark McMillian two weeks ago, trimmed more than $6 million from the Saints’ 1997 payroll.

Indianapolis Colt owner Jim Irsay told fans in a full-page ad in the Indianapolis Star that he would not move the team. He also joined Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith in appealing to state lawmakers to settle their differences and agree to a deal to keep the NFL team in town.

The Colts wants the city’s help in adding high-priced seats at the RCA Dome and renegotiating the team’s stadium lease.

Defensive end Fred Dryer, a dominant player for San Diego State in 1967 and 1968, was one of 22 players selected for the College Football Hall of Fame along with three coaches. Dryer went on to play 13 seasons in the NFL, including 10 with the Los Angeles Rams.

Boxing

Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson each will receive a guaranteed $30 million for their heavyweight title rematch next month, promoter Don King said.

There were reports in recent months that Tyson was to have received $5 million to $10 million less than Holyfield and that Tyson was upset with not receiving parity.

Former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe has applied for a school guard position in Upper Marlboro, Md., that pays $10.49 an hour.

Miscellany

Lynn Archibald, former basketball coach at Utah, Idaho State and an assistant coach at USC, died after a long battle with prostate cancer at Provo, Utah. He was 52. Archibald most recently was assistant coach and director of basketball operations at Brigham Young. He was also an assistant coach at Long Beach State.

Larry Farmer, basketball coach at UCLA from 1981-1984, has accepted an assistant coaching position on Jim Harrick’s staff at Rhode Island, sources said. . . . Pepperdine senior Jason Gore shot a 65 to take the first-round lead at the NCAA men’s golf championships at Lake Forest, Ill. Gore, a graduate of Newhall Hart High, was a two-time Pacific 10 champion at Arizona before transferring to Pepperdine. Northwestern, playing on its home course, Conway Farms, was the team leader after the first round. . . . Chris Oeding (Corona del Mar High) scored with 56 seconds left to give the U.S. a 7-6 victory over Italy in the Water Polo World Cup in Athens. . . . Benjamin P. Nathan, a student charged with the sledgehammer attack on yachting’s America’s Cup, pleaded innocent to the charges at Manurewa, New Zealand.