Ex-Jayhawk Aldridge sentenced

By J-W Staff And Wire Reports     Oct 25, 2003

A former Kansas University football player and track athlete who fled the country after being convicted on drug and weapon charges was sentenced Thursday in Kansas City, Mo., to 13 years and one month in federal prison.

Tywanne M. Aldridge, 25, was arrested in July by Spanish police in Barcelona, where he had been playing American-style football for the club team Badalona Drags. He was brought back to the United States last week, U.S. Attorney Todd Graves said.

Aldridge had been released to await sentencing after he was convicted in U.S. District Court Nov. 30, 2000. The jury found him guilty of attempting to possess at least 500 grams of cocaine with intent to distribute the drug and illegally possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. But he failed to appear for sentencing in June 2001.

A walk-on who was used primarily on special teams, Aldridge played in six KU football games in 1999 and 11 games in 1998. A product of Shawnee Mission West High, Aldridge also ran track for the Jayhawks, placing sixth in the 1999 Big 12 Indoor 100-meter dash.

Aldridge spent his freshman year at Baker University, where he was a national finalist in the NAIA 100-yard dash and set a Heart of America Conference record with a 10.5 clocking.

Aldridge was a KU junior when he and three other men were arrested in February 2000 after trying to buy 2 kilos of cocaine from an undercover officer in the Westport entertainment district in Kansas City, Mo.

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4565Ex-Jayhawk Aldridge sentenced