CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -
Sentencing was delayed Monday for former heavyweight champion
Riddick Bowe, who faces a prison sentence for kidnapping
his
estranged wife and five children.
Ed Hinson, one of Bowe's lawyers, said federal prosecutors
requested the delay and no new date has been set.
"It will probably be in two or three months", Hinson said
Monday.
In June, Bowe pleaded guilty to abducting Judy Bowe and their
children from their home in Cornelius, just north of Charlotte.
He attempted to drive them to his home in Fort Washington, Md.,
but
Judy Bowe managed to telephone for help during a stop in
Virginia
.
Prosecutors said then that Bowe would serve 18 to 24 months in
prison under his plea agreement.
The delay also postponed an appearance in U.S. District Court by
O.J. Simpson defense lawyer Johnnie Cochran Jr., who is
representing Bowe on the kidnapping charges, Hinson said.
Bowe arrived at his wife's home on Feb. 25, 1998, and threatened
her with a knife, handcuffs, duct tape and pepper spray. He
forced her and the youngsters into a Lincoln Navigator and
headed to his
Fort Washington, Md., home, according to a federal
grand jury indictment.
After driving about 200 miles, they stopped at a restaurant in
South Hill, Va., where Judy Bowe called her sister in North
Carolina, who guided police to the restaurant. Judy Bowe told
officers she and her children did not want to go to Maryland.
They returned home, Judy Bowe with a superficial stab wound to
her left breast allegedly inflicted by Bowe.
Incidentally:
Bowe outpointed Evander
Holyfield for the undisputed heavyweight
championship on Nov. 13, 1992. He lost the WBC title when he
didn't fight Lennox Lewis of Britain. He lost the WBA and IBF
titles in a decision to Holyfield on Nov. 6, 1993.
Editorial Commentary:
So this genius decides to kidnap his wife and kids. He's a
former heavyweight champion of the world, but has to resort to
using a knife, duct tape, and pepper spray. He also gigged his
wife with the knife?
After all this decided to
stop
at a restaurant
where he
doesn't see his wife
use the phone
. Wow. What can you
expect from a guy who declared he was going to join the US
Marines to get in shape for his next fight, was late to report
to boot camp, and dropped out in 3 days ...