For the Record
Sentenced to three years of probation and community service, Atlanta Thrashers center Dany Heatley, 24, who pleaded guilty to four misdemeanors, including second-degree vehicular homicide and speeding, in Fulton County (Ga.) Superior Court. On Sept. 29, 2003, Heatley lost control of his Ferrari on the way home from a Thrashers function with teammate Dan Snyder and crashed into an iron fence. Snyder was killed, and Heatley, the NHL rookie of the year in 2000--01, suffered a broken jaw and torn knee ligaments. Prosecutors originally charged Heatley with first-degree vehicular homicide, but they reduced the charges after the Snyder family urged them not to send Heatley to jail. The Snyders said Heatley had shown remorse, and he again took responsibility for the crash when he spoke in court. "The mistake I made that night was driving too fast," he said. "This mistake will stay with me the rest of my life."
Dismissed from the Iowa basketball team, leading scorer Pierre Pierce, who is being investigated by West Des Moines police for his role in an incident on the night of Jan. 27 at the home of a woman he says is his girlfriend. (She told police she isn't.) The junior guard, 21, said he and the woman had "an argument," but authorities said last week they were looking into crimes including intent to commit sexual abuse and burglary. No charges were filed as of Monday, but Hawkeyes coach Steve Alford booted Pierce on Feb. 2 for "betray[ing] the trust we placed in him when he was given a second chance." In 2002 Pierce was charged with third-degree sexual abuse and he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge.
Discovered by scientists at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), a designer steroid they believe is the next generation of THG, the steroid at the center of the BALCO scandal. The new steroid, christened desoxy-methyl testosterone (DMT), was in a vial labeled NEW STUFF confiscated by the Canada Border Services Agency in December 2003 when agents arrested Canadian sprinter Derek Dueck on charges of making false and deceptive statements. Last week the retired Dueck pleaded guilty to attempting to import the illegal drug from the U.S. and must pay a fine of $3,000 Canadian. WADA said last week it did not believe the drug had circulated among athletes.
Fixed By a wide-ranging group of players and referees, several German professional soccer games in 2004, according to German prosecutors. Last month referee Robert Hoyzer told authorities he had accepted $65,000 from a Croatian gambling ring to fix games. Last week the scandal widened when it was revealed that three other officials and 14 players were suspected of throwing at least 10 games.
Died Vikki LaMotta, the ex-wife of former middleweight champ Jake LaMotta, of complications from heart surgery, at age 75. The LaMottas married in 1946, when Vikki was 16 and Jake was 25, and they divorced 11 years later. Their stormy relationship was immortalized in Raging Bull--Cathy Moriarty portrayed Vikki--and the 1980 film sparked renewed interest in the woman known to boxing fans as the Bronx Beauty. A year after the film's release the 51-year-old Vikki posed nude in Playboy.
Crowned as the men's overall speed skating gold medalist at the World All-Around Championships in Moscow, Shani Davis, 22, the first African-American to win the sport's most prestigious annual event. Davis also won gold in the 1,500-meter race, leading an unprecedented U.S. sweep of the event's first four places.
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T. LEVETTE BAGWELL/ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION (HEATLEY)
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GRIGORYDUKOR/REUTERS (DAVIS)