Former Baldwin Park High School star gets 31 years

A man who might have been one of the NFL’s best ever will spend several years in the penitentiary for attacking his girlfriend. Lawrence Phillips, who went from Baldwin Park to the University of Nebraska to the NFL, lived life on the edge

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SAN DIEGO – Ex-NFL running back Lawrence Phillips has been sentenced to more than 31 years in prison for attacking his girlfriend and driving his car into three teens.

Phillips, 34, a former Baldwin Park football star, was sentenced Friday in San Diego for assault and other crimes.

Phillips told the judge he didn’t get a fair trail and he’ll appeal. He switched lawyers several times in the trial, and told friends and family members that he felt like he was badly misrepresented by the public defenders who were assigned to him.

Phillips twice choked his girlfriend in 2005 in San Diego. Later that year, he aimed his car and struck three teens after a pickup football game in Los Angeles.

That car belong to the San Diego victim, and Phillips was originally charged with stealing it.

Ty Pagone, a former Baldwin Park vice principal and football coach who was at the school when Phillips attended it, said he was “horrified” to hear the length of the sentence.

“There are murderers who get shorter sentences and he didn’t kill anyone,” said Pagone. “I don’t think he ever even put anyone in the hospital.”

Pagone added that he believed Phillips did need to answer for his crimes.

“There are no doubt he has made mistakes, but he is not a monster, the way he has been depicted sometimes,” he added.

Pagone said two of Phillips’ other former coaches had attended the hearing in San Diego, Tony Zane of Baldwin Park,

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