Report: Agent Indicted on Money Laundering Charges

Sports agent William “Tank” Black has been indicted on money laundering and drug charges by a federal grand jury in Detroit, a Columbia television station in Columbia, S.C., reported.

He was arrested Wednesday morning and will remain in jail until a bond hearing next week, prosecutors told WIS-TV.

The 34-count indictment says Black took more than $1 million from drug dealers and funneled it into a car-title loan business.

That title business was part of a $300-million pyramid scheme, prosecutors said.

Black and his associate Linda Wilson also have been charged with conspiracy and perjury charges.

Black and Wilson could face up to life in prison and $4 million in fines if convicted of all counts.

The indictment is similar to one handed down in Florida. There, Black is accused of defrauding several NFL players. The Securities and Exchange Commission also has sued Black, accusing him of scamming players for more than $5 million.

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The PGA Tour asked the Supreme Court to rule that disabled golfer Casey Martin has no legal right to ride in a golf cart between shots during its tournaments. In an appeal filed with the nation’s highest court, the tour’s lawyers argued that a federal anti-bias law, the Americans with Disabilities Act, should not apply to Martin’s case.

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Rae Carruth will have to wait until at least February before he goes to trial in Charlotte, N.C., on charges he plotted to murder his pregnant girlfriend. The former Carolina Panther receiver had wanted an earlier trial date, certain he will be acquitted and intent on resuming his football career. . . . Prosecutors in Jackson, Tenn., have dropped weapons charges against Indianapolis Colt running back Fred Lane, but a grand jury indicted him on misdemeanor drug charges. . . . Charlotte Hornet forward Anthony Mason pleaded not guilty in New Orleans to charges of inciting a riot, assaulting a police officer and public drunkenness. A court date has been set for Nov. 2. Mason, 33, was arrested Monday night and released Tuesday. . . . A judge in Annapolis, Md., lowered bail for Arion Keith Williams and Cordrea Brittingham, Navy football players accused of raping a female midshipman. Defense attorneys said the two would return to the Naval Academy. . . . Former IBF light-heavyweight champion William Guthrie testified in Newark, N.J., that his title shot was delayed when he left promoter Don King. During their final meeting, King ensured that Guthrie knew the consequences by telephoning IBF founder Robert W. Lee, who told Guthrie the bout “would be pushed to the side” amid any litigation with King, the St. Louis fighter told a federal jury at Lee’s racketeering trial.

Miscellany

The Australian Olympic Committee ordered a full-scale inquiry into allegations that officials covered up widespread doping by the nation’s athletes.

The claim in a book by Olympic discus thrower Werner Reiterer that a majority of Australian athletes use performance-enhancing substances contradicts the country’s official hard line against drugs in sport and come embarrassingly close to the start of the Sydney Olympics on Sept. 15.

The Kings re-signed defenseman Jere Karalahti to a three-year contract. . . . Looking to toughen their lineup, the Mighty Ducks signed right wing Jim Cummins to a one-year, $500,000 contract, ending Stu Grimson’s second stint with the team. . . . Dave King, former coach of the Canadian national team, was named coach of the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets. . . . The NHL named Hall of Fame referee Andy van Hellemond the league’s new director of officiating in a shake-up of the league’s officiating department.

NBA free agent Tracy McGrady said he wants to join Grant Hill and Tim Duncan with the Orlando Magic. McGrady says he will not return to the Toronto Raptors. . . . The University of Miami will name Tulane’s Perry Clark as its new men’s basketball coach today, the Miami Herald reported. . . . Kansas Athletic Director Bob Frederick said he will meet with Roy Williams this morning and remains hopeful his basketball coach will not leave the Jayhawks for North Carolina.

Tiger Woods dealt a crushing blow to the status of the 2001 Andersen Consulting World Match Play Championship when the world’s No. 1 golfer revealed that he will not be making the trip to Australia in January. . . . John Daly withdrew from the Western Open in Lemont, Ill., because of an inflamed hip, one day before the tournament was scheduled to begin.

Mary Beth Miller, a Canadian biathlon star killed while training in a forest outside Quebec, Canada, died from head and neck injuries inflicted by a wild animal, most likely a black bear, a coroner said. . . . Former U.S. Olympic runner Leonard Hilton died of pancreatic cancer. He was 52.