MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- A University of Alabama football supporter
convicted of bribing a high school coach to get a top recruit was
found dead in his home, police said Tuesday.
Police would not say how Logan Young, 65, died, but they were
investigating it as a homicide and had no suspects or motive, said
Sgt. Vince Higgins. The incident appeared to have happened overnight
Monday.
"The nature of the attack was brutal," Higgins said. "The
entire house is a crime scene."
Young was free while he appealed his 2005 federal conviction on
money laundering and racketeering conspiracy involving the
recruitment of defensive lineman Albert Means.
Means' recruitment led to an NCAA investigation and sanctions
against Alabama in 2002, costing the school scholarships and bowl
appearances.
Former high school coach Lynn Lang, who avoided jail time after
pleading guilty to the racketeering conspiracy, testified that
Young paid $150,000 to get Means to sign with Alabama in 2000.
The NCAA has said it believed Means was unaware his football
talents were being brokered. Means transferred to the University of
Memphis, where he finished his college career.
Young was sentenced in June to six months in prison, plus six
months' home confinement and two years' supervised release.
His attorneys had argued against jail time because Young needed
a kidney transplant and could not get proper medical care in
prison. Final briefs in his appeal were to be filed July 14,
according to court records.
Young, who was not an Alabama alumnus, claimed to be a friend of
legendary Alabama coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and was the original
owner of the Memphis Showboats of the USFL in the early '80s.
Attorney Tommy Gallion, who represented former Alabama assistants Ivy Williams and Ronnie Cottrell in a defamation suit against the NCAA and others, called the news tragic.
A Memphis attorney helping in a lawsuit stemming from the NCAA sanctions was attacked in his office and left unconscious in May 2004. Key documents were stolen, said Phillip Shanks, the attorney. No one was ever charged.
"I have no idea who could be behind this. I was shocked that
Phillip Shanks was beaten, and this was more shocking," Gallion
said in a statement read by his secretary.
Cottrell said he was horrified when he heard Young had been
killed.
"I couldn't believe it. Logan was a friend, and he has been
through so much already. Certainly for his life to end this way was
a tragedy. My prayers are just with his family right now,"
Cottrell said.
Defense attorney Robert Hutton said he last talked with Young
last week and called his death a total shock and a real loss.
"He was very generous man. He was generous with people around
him. A pastor of a Catholic Church, he asked for money for some
program, for the roof or something, and he gave him the money.
Logan wasn't even Catholic," Hutton said.