Football player seeks to resolve ongoing theft case
By Times Staff Writer
Published November 13, 2003
DADE CITY - Resolving professional football player Darren Hambrick's ongoing theft charge will require either a trial or a plea deal that lets him avoid the label of felon, his attorney said Wednesday.
If he pleads guilty or no contest to the charge of grand theft hanging over him, Hambrick risks a National Football League suspension for a felony conviction, attorney Aldo Ojeda said outside a courtroom after a brief pretrial appearance before Circuit Judge Lynn Tepper.
Hambrick, 28, of Lacoochee, was accused last year of collecting a $5,682.51 paycheck from the Carolina Panthers for his play there, then reporting the check missing and having a second one issued. Authorities say Hambrick cashed both checks.
Ojeda said the money has been paid back, but the criminal charge lingers. Earlier this year, Ojeda indicated Hambrick's legal troubles may be responsible for slowing his return to the NFL. Hambrick played linebacker last season for the Cleveland Browns but has not played this season.
Ojeda said if a deal can be worked out that would allow him to resolve the case, without his client being labeled a felon, he would likely approve of the deal. One option is to let him plead to a misdemeanor, such as petty theft, Ojeda said.
Another hearing date is scheduled for Jan. 7. Ojeda said if an arrangement is not in place by then, a trial would be likely.
Hambrick appeared in court Wednesday but did not speak publicly.
Attorney in murder case called to military duty
DADE CITY - An attorney representing a 24-year-old Zephyrhills man accused of murder in the 1997 killing of 9-year-old Sharra Ferger has been summoned for active military duty, casting the potential for more delays in the 5-year-old case.
Elizabeth Hittos, filling in for attorney Charles Lykes on an unrelated case, told Circuit Judge Lynn Tepper on Wednesday that Lykes was recently called up for duty with his Army Reserve unit, where he is assigned as an officer to a civil affairs division.
Lykes has been representing Gary Steven Cannon. Cannon is charged with first-degree murder and facing a potential death penalty if convicted in Sharra's abduction from her Blanton home and subsequent murder. Sharra's body was found Oct. 3, 1997 in a field near her home. She was last seen alive the night before.
Another man, Gary Elishi Cochran, 37, is also charged with the crime. The two were indicted by a Pasco County grand jury in 2001 and have been awaiting trial since. The two are both serving unrelated prison sentences for separate crimes.
A second attorney appointed to Cannon's defense, Daniel Hernandez of Tampa, is expected to remain on the case.
Rejected rezoning request may not deter facility plan
NEW PORT RICHEY - The Pasco County Planning Commission narrowly rejected a rezoning request from a businessman planning an assisted living facility northwest of Massachusetts Avenue and Little Road, but it might not matter.
David Coogan wants to open a 56-bed home at 8151 Treelet Court. Neighbors from nearby Peggy Mac Lane went to the hearing to complain. They argued against the possible traffic and some of the mentally ill patients destined for the facility.
By a vote of 5 to 4, the planning commission, meeting at the West Pasco Government Center, rejected the rezoning request. The case goes to county commissioners for a final vote.
Coogan's attorney, Jerry Figurski, said the rezoning isn't strictly necessary. A former nursing home opened on the property before Pasco adopted zoning in 1975, thus successive businesses of the same sort are grandfathered in.
