EX-PLAYER SENTENCED TO PRISON

Los Angeles(AP) - Former running back Stanley Wilson, whose NFL career with
the Cincinnati Bengals was plagued by drug problems, was sentenced to 22
years in prison Friday for stealing about $130,000 worth of property.

Wilson, 37, was convicted last month of stealing jewelry, camera equipment
and other valuables from a Beverly Hills home on Jan. 24, 1998.

Under the state's "three strikes" law, prosecutors were seeking 25 years to
life term because Wilson had already served time for burglarizing two homes
in Long Beach.

Superior Court Judge Frank J. Johnson eliminated one of the "strikes"
against Wilson, but sentenced him to the maximum on two others.

In throwing out the third strike, Johnson cited Wilson's "mental problems."

In addition to battling a cocaine habit, Wilson suffers from bipolar
dis-order, defense attorney H. Clay Jacke said. The affliction is
character-ized by alternating states of mania and depression.

Jacke said Wilson is "a very good man with a very big (mental) problem."

Wilson, who lives in nearby Westchester, sobbed during much of the hearing
in West Los Angeles Superior Court, and as he began to make remarks to the
court.

"When I left prison (the first time), I truly believed I wasn't going to do
it anymore," he said. "I believed it in my heart. ... I have always been
against all these things I am charged with. ... It's so strange. The person
sitting here is not the person who ... did these things."

Later, Wilson told the judge: "All I'm asking is ... you do what you have
the power to do."