A while back, Maurice Simmons would have seemed to have had the world by the tail. A highly recruited linebacker at Compton Dominguez High near L.A., he was given a scholarship to football power USC, following the path of his brother, who played for the Trojans in 2002-03.So why did Simmons help Lamont Lee Hall rob a man at gunpoint on a Compton street? Considering the widespread gang influence in Compton, perhaps before heading off to school he was trying to “keep it real.”
Wednesday, a Compton judge demonstrated another way to “keep it real,” sentencing Simmons — convicted of felony robbery, assault with a firearm and the misdemeanor of allowing someone to bring a gun into his car — to four years in prison. His buddy, the one who pointed the gun, got 12.
Simmons’ attorney described the young man as “stunned.” After all, a probation officer had recommended probation Simmons, citing his football potential. Note that — not citing his work in or his value to the community, not citing his remorse or desire to try to make it right with the victim. Citing his football potential.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-simmons25-2008sep25,0,3673415.story
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