Former NFL star gets 15 years

Former NFL wide receiver Sam Hurd has been sentenced to 15 years for his role in a drug-distribution scheme. 

 

Hurd received the punishment Wednesday in a federal courtroom in Dallas.

 

He pleaded guilty in April to one count of trying to buy and distribute cocaine and marijuana, which carries a sentence of 10 years to life in prison.

 

Authorities say that while NFL teammates and friends knew Hurd as a hardworking wide receiver and married father, he was fashioning a separate identity as a wannabe drug kingpin. 

 

He was arrested in December 2011 outside a suburban Chicago steakhouse after he tried to buy cocaine in what turned out to be a sting.

 

At the time, Hurd was a wide receiver with stints for the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys.

 

-Sapa-AP