Florida Sentinel Bulletin

NEW YORK — Former New York Giants Super Bowl star Plaxico Burress is to get out of prison in June, after officials agreed Friday to shave about three months off his time behind bars in a gun case.

A committee of prison-system staffers decided Burress was eligible for time off for good behavior, so he can be freed after serving about 21 months of his two-year sentence, system spokeswoman Linda Foglia said.

With Burress’ release date now set for June 6, his agent and lawyer said he’s looking to return to football — and a number of teams are looking at him.

“He’s counting the hours,” lawyer Peter M. Frankel said. “He’s extremely positive.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has ruled that Burress would be reinstated and eligible to sign with a team upon completing his sentence. While the league and players are locked in negotiations that have cast a shadow of uncertainty over the sport’s next season, Frankel and Burress agent Drew Rosenhaus said several teams had expressed interest in the receiver.

“The future is very bright for Plaxico,” Rosenhaus said in an e-mail.

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — Michael Vick is making plans to get ready for next season despite the NFL’s labor situation.

The Philadelphia Eagles’ Pro Bowl quarterback says he’ll work out with some of his teammates on their own if there’s a lockout. The league and the players’ union agreed Friday on a seven-day extension of the collective bargaining agreement.

“Wherever we agree to be collectively. It may be Florida, it may be Hawaii. We’ll get our work in,” Vick said. “Being on the same page, timing, which is very important. I think everybody has to be on one accord, all thinking the same. Practice and film study are important, but just familiarizing ourselves with each other, that’s going to be big for us.”

Vick was in Atlantic City to receive the Maxwell Award for outstanding professional player. Eagles coach Andy Reid also was to be honored as the outstanding coach in a Friday night ceremony.

Vick, who signed a one-year contract with the Eagles after being designated the franchise player, said a long-term deal hasn’t been discussed yet. However, it’s likely that would happen once the new CBA is agreed upon.

Sophomore forward, Brandon Davies, is averaging 11 points and 6 rebounds for BYU’s highly ranked basketball team.

When the word got out that he was suspended, rumors began to fly and suspicions of drug violations, conduct or academics were all named as possible reasons.

Brandon, however had sex with his girlfriend and told his team and school officials on Monday. At Brigham Young University, the students make a commitment to abstain from things like alcohol, coffee, tea and most importantly, pre-marital sex.

The Mormon school has an Honor Code that demands regular church attendance and places their values higher than a basketball tournament appearance.

Though coach David Rose said he was surprised and he believes the suspension that will stop Davies from participating in any more games this season will be lifted, he does stand behind the decision.

LOS ANGELES — Former Oakland Raider Anthony Wayne Smith appeared in court Friday to face a murder charge in the 2008 beating and shooting death of a man in northern Los Angeles County, authorities said.

Smith, 43, of Fontana, who played defensive end for the Raiders in Los Angeles and Oakland from 1991 to 1998, is one of three men charged in the killing.

Smith was arrested and was being held on $1 million bail.

Maurilla Ponce, 31, was beaten and shot several times on Oct. 7, 2008 in Lancaster, and his body was dumped near the Antelope Valley poppy fields some 11 miles away.

After a Sheriff’s Department investigation of more than two years, a felony complaint naming Smith was filed.

HACKENSACK, NJ — Former NFL star Lawrence Taylor is in a New Jersey courtroom Friday to try to keep the media out of a dispute between him and a woman who bore his child.

An attorney for the former New York Giants linebacker is seeking to bar reporters from future hearings in the child support case involving Taylor and Ebony Washington.

Attorney James Key says in court papers that Taylor isn’t behind on payments. Key says the dispute is over Taylor’s attempt to reduce his payments.

In January, Taylor was sentenced to six years’ probation after he admitted paying a 16-year-old runaway for sex.

Taylor led the New York Giants to Super Bowl titles in 1987 and 1991.

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears have restructured Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers’ contract to create more salary-cap room for next season.

Peppers signed a six-year deal worth potentially $91.5 million a year ago, was due a $10.5 million roster bonus for next season. Instead, the team exercised its right to convert that money into a signing bonus and prorate it over the remaining years of his contract, which runs through the 2015 season.

That saves roughly $8 million in cap space for next season, giving the Bears more room to bring in free agents and retain their own.

NEW YORK  — Tennis star Serena Williams underwent “emergency treatment” after doctors discovered a blood clot in her lungs.

Spokeswoman Nicole Chabot told the magazine that Williams “underwent emergency treatment for a hematoma suffered as a result of treatment for a more critical situation.”

Williams suffered from a pulmonary embolism last week. The 29-year-old Williams is being treated at a Los Angeles hospital.

“Doctors are continuing to monitor her situation closely to avoid additional complications.”

A senior writer for ESPN has been arrested in Massachusetts on charges including domestic assault and resisting arrest.

State police say 42-year-old Howard Bryant was arrested in front of a pizza parlor Saturday in Massachusetts.

Witnesses told police they saw a man choking and pinning a woman against a parked car.

Police say Bryant struck a state trooper in the chest with his elbow. He was freed on $5,000 bail and is being arraigned Monday in Greenfield District Court. Bryant lives in nearby Ashfield.

Police did not disclose the woman’s relationship to Bryant.

Everybody needs a friend like Greg Anderson, especially if you happen to be a retired home run king suspected of doping and charged with lying to a grand jury about it.

Anderson’s childhood friend and former boss, Barry Bonds, was back in court again Tuesday, pleading not guilty, again, knowing full well that Anderson would refuse to testify against him and as a result, wind up spending some time in jail — again.

Three years have passed since Bonds was originally charged with lying under oath, but almost seven have gone by since the two men first got caught in the government’s net during an investigation into the BALCO labs in California.

Anderson went to prison the first time in 2005, after pleading guilty to steroid distribution and money laundering tied to the BALCO operation, then twice more for refusing to tell the feds what he knows about

Bonds, whose next stay in jail — if it comes to that — will be his first.

On Tuesday, Anderson told U.S. District Judge Susan Illston he wouldn’t take the stand and when the case goes to trial March 21, he will be going back to jail for as long it lasts.