These sports stars went to jail
“It was really violent, it’s not a trivial offense. That’s not funny”
dr Jürgen Rodegra, specialist lawyer for international business law, analyzes the judgment against Boris Becker at WELT. He is an expert on the Anglo-Saxon legal system and says what appeals Becker can lodge against the verdict.
Boris Becker has been sentenced to prison in London. However, he is not the first international sports star to be behind bars. An overview of the most prominent cases.
Dhe former German tennis pro Boris Becker has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison in his adopted home of London for delaying bankruptcy. According to the sentence, he has to serve half of it. Even if the verdict is not yet final, Becker has already been sent behind bars. He is not the first international sports star to be sentenced to prison. An overview:
Bubi Scholz was the boxing idol of post-war youth in Germany. As a German champion and European champion, Scholz enjoyed fame and fortune, and many Berlin celebrities were his friends. But after his sports career, Scholz lost his life with depression and alcoholism. In 1984, under circumstances that were never fully clarified, he shot dead his drunk wife, who had locked herself in the toilet, while he was intoxicated. Scholz got three years in prison for negligent homicide, the court saw no intention to kill.
Graciano Rocchigiani was one of the most successful German boxers in the 80s and 90s, including the title of world champion. But in addition to sport, there were scandals about drunkenness, fights and traffic offenses. In 2002, “Rocky” was jailed for almost a year after violating a parole condition. In 2007, he was sentenced to twelve months in prison for assault, among other things, which he did not have to serve in full.
Eventful life: Graciano “Rocky” Rocchigiani had a fatal accident on October 1, 2018 in Sicily
Those: dpa / Arno Burgi
And another boxer was cracked. Felix Storm was one of the most famous pugilists in Germany in recent years, but the 43-year-old lost a comeback fight in March. The past few years have been overshadowed by accusations of tax evasion. After he had originally been sentenced to three years in prison for this and other crimes, the Cologne Regional Court reduced the sentence to two years and four months last year.
Uli Hoeneß As a player, manager and later president of FC Bayern Munich, he was one of the defining figures in German football for decades. In 2013, however, he was suspected of tax evasion, and in 2014 Hoeneß was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for evading 28.5 million euros. From June 2014 to February 2016 Hoeneß was in prison, the rest of the sentence was suspended.
In the US was OJ Simpson In 1995, in a sensational circumstantial trial, he was acquitted of the charge of stabbing his ex-wife and her boyfriend. However, in a civil lawsuit, the former American football star was later held responsible for her death and sentenced to pay $33.5 million in compensation to the bereaved.
OJ Simpson was released from prison after serving nine years
Source: dpa/Pool The Reno Gazette-Journal
In 2008, Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in prison for armed robbery of two sports souvenir vendors at a Las Vegas hotel-casino. In October 2017, he was released early, subject to conditions.
Oscar Pistorius has been in prison for more than 13 years
Mike Tyson, a US boxer notorious for his tough thugs, was sentenced to six years in prison in 1992 for raping Miss Black America contestant Desiree Washington. The last three have been suspended. In 1999, he was sentenced to one year in prison for assaulting those involved in a traffic accident. After four months, Tyson was allowed to leave prison and serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. Just over a week ago, Tyson made headlines again when he reportedly punched a young man in the face multiple times on a plane.
Oscar Pistorius, a South African sprinter with a leg amputation, shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through the closed bathroom door of his home in February 2013. The multiple Paralympics winner always claimed to have taken the model for a burglar and acted in panic. In October 2014 he was initially sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter and released a year later under house arrest.
A picture from happier days: the later murder victim Reeva Steenkamp and Oscar Pistorius, who was sentenced to a long prison term
What: AFP/Getty Images
However, an appeals court found him guilty of murder in December 2015. The six years in prison initially set for this were increased to 13 years and five months in 2017. Pistorius’ appeal to the South African Constitutional Court was dismissed.
