Sports Briefs: Shackled Castroneves enters not-guilty plea to tax-evasion charges

MIAMI -- Helio Castroneves, a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges that he used offshore accounts to evade U.S. taxes on more than $5 million in income.

Castroneves, who appeared in court in handcuffs and leg chains, was ordered released on $10 million bail. His attorney, Mark Seiden, said that Castroneves was leaving town yesterday for a weekend race in Atlanta.

"We would enter a plea of not guilty," said Seiden, standing alongside a visibly shaken and frowning Castroneves.

Terms of Castroneves' release allow him to travel for work in the United States but not abroad, meaning he will most likely miss a race later this month in Australia, Seiden said.

A grand jury on Thursday indicted Castroneves on charges of conspiracy and six counts of tax evasion for purportedly failing to report to the IRS about $5.5 million in income between 1999 and 2004, according to court documents. Each count carries a maximum five-year prison sentence.

Another Castroneves attorney, David Garvin, said he was disappointed that the tax dispute couldn't be resolved without criminal charges. "Helio has always done the appropriate thing and hired accountants and attorneys he relied upon," Garvin said. "We are of the strong belief that he did not do anything wrong. We're looking forward to going to court."

Basketball

■ Shock 69, Silver Stars 61: Katie Smith scored 22 points and visiting Detroit built a big lead in the first quarter, then hung on to defeat San Antonio last night and take a 2-0 lead in the WNBA finals.

Game 3 in the best-of-5 series is scheduled for Sunday at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich., where Detroit will try to wrap up its second title in the past three years.

Deanna Nolan and Kara Braxton added 12 points each for the Shock, who led 19-2 less than six minutes into the game.

■ Florida coach Billy Donovan has finally signed a contract extension he agreed to more than a year ago.

Donovan had agreed to the contract extension last June after deciding to return to Florida just days after signing a deal with the Orlando Magic.

The contract he signed yesterday will pay him $3.5 million a season through 2012-13.

Donovan is 285-115 in 12 seasons at Florida.

■ Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks is the unanimous choice as WNBA rookie of the year. Parker led the rookies in scoring (18.5 ppg), rebounding (9.5 rpg), blocks (2.3 bpg) and minutes (33.6 mpg). She received all 45 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

■ The Miami Heat yesterday signed Shaun Livingston, a free-agent point guard, and will give him a second chance at an NBA career.

Livingston hasn't played since seriously injuring his left knee 19 months ago. Several other teams showed interest in the offseason, including Portland, Minnesota and the Los Angeles Clippers, who drafted Livingston fourth in 2004. Livingston averaged 7.4 points and 4.8 assists in parts of three seasons with the Clippers.

■ Forward Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls will miss five days of workouts after being poked in the left eye during practice Wednesday. The team said yesterday that the injury left Noah with blood in the front chamber of his eye.

Hockey

■ The Carolina Hurricanes yesterday sent forward Dwight Helminen and defenseman Bryan Rodney to their American Hockey League affiliate in Albany. The moves left the Hurricanes with 28 players in camp before their final exhibition game Sunday against Nashville.

■ Top prospects Nathan Gerbe and Tim Kennedy were among six players the Buffalo Sabres assigned to Portland of the AHL yesterday. The team also put forwards Mathieu Darche and Mark Mancari on waivers for the purpose of assignment to Portland.

College football

■ Wake Forest is urging fans who plan to attend Thursday night's football game against Clemson at BB&T Field to consider an alternate route to avoid traffic congestion caused by the game and the Dixie Classic Fair.

Kickoff will be at 7:30.

Wake Forest is asking its fans to use roads north of BB&T Field, such as Cherry Street, Polo Road, Indiana Avenue and Akron Drive, and to avoid University Parkway near Joel Coliseum.

Wake Forest has parking and traffic information on its Game Day hotline (336-758-4263) and Web site (wakeforestgameday.com).

■ Lawrence Phillips, a former football star at Nebraska, was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison, two years after he was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon.

The sentencing was repeatedly delayed while Phillips fought to withdraw a guilty plea in a domestic abuse case that could have led to a stiffer sentence.

Phillips was convicted in 2006 of seven counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

Phillips has been jailed since August 2005, when he drove onto a field near Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and his car struck two boys, ages 14 and 15, and a 19-year-old man, who suffered cuts and bruises. The car narrowly missed four other people.

He was upset over losing a pickup football game to the youths, prosecutors said.

Miscellaneous

■ All 11 starters from the U.S. soccer team's previous two World Cup qualifying victories were selected to the roster for the next match Oct. 11 against Cuba. A victory will send the United States into the final round of CONCACAF qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The U.S. roster for Cuba features: goalkeepers Brad Guzan, Tim Howard and Troy Perkins; defenders Carlos Bocanegra, Danny Califf, Steve Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit, Frankie Hejduk, Oguchi Onyewu, Michael Orozco and Heath Pearce; midfielders Freddy Adu, DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Sacha Kljestan, Danny Szetela and Jos De Francisco Torres; and forwards Jozy Altidore, Brian Ching, Charlie Davies, Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan.

■ Serena Williams has pulled out of next week's Kremlin Cup because of an ankle injury, the WTA Tour announced yesterday. Williams, the U.S. Open champion, will fall from the No. 1 ranking on Monday because of her loss to Li Na in the second round of the Porsche Grand Prix this week. Jelena Jankovic will regain the top spot.

■ Usain Bolt's three world records at the Beijing Olympics were officially ratified yesterday by the International Association of Athletics Federations, the world governing body of track and field. Bolt, of Jamaica, set records in the 100 (9.69 seconds) and 200 meters (19.30) and ran a leg of the 4x100 with Nesta Carter, Michael Frater and Asafa Powell (37.10).

The IAAF also ratified Russian Yelena Isinbayeva's world pole-vault record (16-6¾ ) set in Beijing, and Russian Gulnara Galkina-Samitova's steeplechase record (8:58.81).

■ Cyclist Frank Schleck of Luxembourg was provisionally suspended by his CSC Saxo Bank team yesterday after admitting that he transferred money to a Swiss bank account held by Eufemiano Fuentes, the Spanish doctor at the center of Operation Puerto doping scandal.

CSC said that Schleck, who wore the leader's jersey at this year's Tour de France for three days, transferred the money to the account in March 2006 "to receive training advice by experts who presumably worked with some of the biggest names in the sport." Schleck admitted making "a serious blunder" but denied having direct contact with Fuentes and reiterated his claim that he has never engaged in doping.

■ Equestrian rider Rodrigo Pessoa has been stripped of his fifth-place finish at the Beijing Olympics and banned from competing for 4½ months after a positive drug test on his horse. The sport's governing body also fined Pessoa, a Brazilian, the equivalent of $1,766.

Pessoa's horse, Rufus, tested positive Aug. 23 for nonivamide, a banned pain-relieving medication.

■ The NCAA reprimanded Coach Frank Anderson and assistant Greg Evans of Oklahoma State and two players who were ejected from last year's Division I Baseball regionals. Anderson and Evans, and players Luis Flores and Matt Hague, were ejected after arguments with umpires near the end of Oklahoma State's loss to Wichita State. The loss eliminated the Cowboys from postseason play.