Nancy Brown

An 18-year-old acquitted in the shooting death of a Long Beach motorcyclist during the 1992 riots was sentenced Monday to nearly six years in the California Youth Authority for assault and conspiracy charges in the incident. Brent Lamar Jones was given a 5-year, 8-month term by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Nancy Brown, who also ordered the Long Beach resident to pay $5,000 to a crime victims' restitution fund.

A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted 10 Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department narcotics officers--including all nine members of an elite team--on charges of stealing more than $1.4 million in seized drug cash and using much of that money to buy homes, luxury cars, jewelry and stocks. The 10 veteran officers were also accused of conspiring to take money from suspected drug dealers during narcotics raids over the last two years.

Two former Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies were sentenced to prison terms for skimming drug money, bringing to 13 the number of deputies convicted of such offenses in the last three years. U.S. Dist. Judge Edward Rafeedie sentenced Michael Kaliterna, 46, of Chino Hills to 40 months in prison and fined him $25,000, and sent Nancy A. Brown, 53, of Alta Loma to jail for 16 months and fined her $10,000.

Two weeks ago, Nancy Brown poured her last $20 into her gas tank and began to sob. The 35-year-old waitress was middle class, healthy, sane, newly employed--and homeless. Brown and her husband, a refrigeration technician, were laid off from their jobs in Riverside within a week of each other. That was 18 months ago. They have since dived straight down through what used to be called "the safety net." Their unemployment benefits and savings evaporated while they looked for new jobs.

The UCLA women's track team, which has won three straight Pacific 10 Conference championships, has 11 athletes who competing in as many as 13 events in the NCAA meet through Saturday at Provo, Utah. Qualifying for the NCAAs last week in different meets were hurdlers Nicolle Thompson (13.6), Tiffany Smith (13.44 wind-aided) and Nikki Williams (13.53 wind) in 100 meters, shot-putter Tracie Millet with a lifetime best of 49-9 and Caryl Smith with an 11.43 in the 100-meter dash. Since Janeene Vickers had already qualified for the 100 hurdles, the Bruins have four entrants in that event.

Phil Rodgers, a non-winner in four years on the Senior PGA Tour, set a course record with a seven-under-par 65 Thursday to take a three-stroke lead over Don January and Bob Brue after the first round of The Tradition in Scottsdale, Ariz. Rodgers, who turned 53 Wednesday, shared the first-round lead here last year but finished in a 13th-place tie in the rain-plagued tournament.

A warning to golfers on the Ladies Professional Golf Assn. tour: The old Pat Bradley is back. After a two-year struggle against hyperthyroidism, Bradley is again playing the brand of golf that has made her the leading money-winner of all time. She has had two straight top-10 finishes, and made a good start toward another Thursday by shooting a 69 in 103-degree heat in the Red Robin Kyocera Inamori tournament at StoneRidge Country Club.

Debbie Massey won the $550,000 Mazda Japan Classic, the final tournament on the LPGA Tour, when the last round was canceled because of rain Sunday at Hanno, Japan. Massey, who shot a course-record 64 on Saturday, won by three strokes for her first victory in 11 years and the third of her career. She won $82,500, giving her more than $1 million in lifetime earnings. Massey started the Saturday's round three shots behind first-round leader Nancy Brown, birdied the first three holes.

There are many contenders at the halfway point of the LPGA tour's Red Robin Kyocera Inamori tournament at StoneRidge, but defending champion Ayako Okamoto isn't one of them. In fact, Okamoto is no longer in the tournament. After winning here twice in a row, the Japanese veteran bowed out Friday when she added a nine-over-par 80 to her first-round 75 and missed the cut by eight strokes.