Veteran Compton Dominguez High boys basketball coach Russell Otis has been fired pending appeal and the Compton Unified School District's longtime athletic director Ernie Carr has resigned, attorneys for both said Tuesday.
Otis, who led the Dons to 10 Southern Section titles and six state championships, faces felony commercial burglary counts and two other counts connected to unwanted sexual advances on a former male student. Carr was arrested in April on suspicion of felony grand theft and forgery for allegedly helping Otis cash a $15,000 check from Nike for use in his own account when the funds were intended for the school district.
Compton Unified officials have declined to discuss personnel matters.
Otis' attorney, Leonard Levine, said the effort to dismiss the coach is based "on grounds solely related to the Nike check and not the alleged molestation. The allegations of the Nike check will be unsubstantiated."
An independent investigation commissioned by the school district and reviewed by The Times concluded the student's allegations against Otis that led to one felony count of meeting a minor for lewd purposes and one misdemeanor count of child molesting were "unsubstantiated."
The law firm that conducted the investigation defined the "unsubstantiated" allegations as "those unable to be verified, corroborated or confirmed by the available evidence."
Carr, meanwhile, "was planning to retire within a year, anyway, and he didn't want to spend that year dealing with this," his attorney, Michael Chaney, said. "He resigned in disgust. This Nike thing is bogus. [Law enforcement] reached a conclusion first, and then grasped at straws to make it happen, but now the straws are falling apart."
Otis and Carr's next court date is Monday.
-- Lance Pugmire
JURSIPRUDENCE
Stallworth begins 30-day sentence
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte' Stallworth began serving a 30-day jail sentence for killing a pedestrian while driving drunk in Florida, a punishment made possible by his cooperation with investigators and the fervent wish by the victim's family to put the matter behind them.
Stallworth, 28, received the sentence after pleading guilty to a DUI manslaughter charge for striking and killing Mario Reyes while driving drunk March 14 in his black 2005 Bentley. The athlete also reached a confidential financial settlement with the family of the 59-year-old construction worker. Without the plea deal, the DUI manslaughter conviction could have netted Stallworth 15 years in prison.
