LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Once-promising American footballer Lawrence Phillips was sentenced to 10 years in prison Friday, two years after he was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon for driving a car into a group of youths.
Phillips, who was drafted sixth overall by the National Football League's St. Louis Rams in 1996, was convicted on October 10, 2006 of seven counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
His sentencing had been delayed as he tried to withdraw a guilty plea in an unrelated domestic violence case that could have affected his jail time.
In August of 2006, Phillips drove onto a field near the Los Angeles Coliseum and struck three teenagers after arguing with them during a pickup football game. Four other people managed to get out of the way of the car.
Phillips, 33, had been in jail since his arrest on the day of that incident.
At the time, he was wanted by police in San Diego, California, in connection with domestic violence allegations, with a former girlfriend claiming Phillips choked her to the point of unconsciousness.
Phillips had a string of such charges behind him, having pleaded no contest to beating his college girlfriend, and, in 1998 while with the Dolphins, to hitting a woman in a Miami nightclub.
Phillips claimed he was coerced into pleading guilty to hitting a woman he knew during a confrontation in Beverly Hills in 2000.
Despite his outstanding collegiate football career at the University of Nebraska, Phillips lasted less than two seasons with the Rams before they released him for insubordination.
He eventually played in 35 NFL games with three different teams and rushed for 1,453 yards and 14 touchdowns.
He also played for the Barcelona Dragons of the NFL Europe league and the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.
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