Webber trial not expected to begin until next year

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Webber trial not expected to begin until next year

Thursday, September 26, 2002

ASSOCIATED PRESS


DETROIT -- A trial involving NBA star Chris Webber, his father and aunt -- each of whom is accused of lying to a federal grand jury -- is not expected to get under way until next year, court officials said Thursday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino and attorneys for Webber, his father, Mayce Webber Jr., and aunt, Charlene Johnson, appeared before U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds Thursday morning. The parties decided they would not be able to begin before Jan. 1.

Johnson pleaded innocent Wednesday to charges of lying to a grand jury about the family's dealing with a University of Michigan booster.

All three are accused of obstructing justice in the grand jury's investigation of booster Ed Martin.

Webber and his father have pleaded innocent to the same charges -- lying to a grand jury and obstructing justice.

Each count carries a penalty of a $250,000 fine and five years in prison.

Martin says he gave Chris Webber and his family $280,000 in cash and gifts while the basketball standout was in high school and at Michigan.

The 29-year-old Webber was a member of the "Fab Five" in the early 1990s who led the Wolverines to two NCAA title games. He is starting the second year of a seven-year, $123 million contract with the Kings.