Football recruit guilty in robbery

A USC football recruit has been convicted of robbing a man at gunpoint in Compton earlier this year.

A Compton Superior Court jury deliberated several hours Wednesday before convicting 18-year-old linebacker Maurice Simmons of robbery and assault with a firearm. Lamont Hall, the football player’s friend, has also been convicted in the March 5 robbery.

Simmons’ attorney intends to appeal because he says his client did not realize that Hall intended to commit a crime.

Simmons faces 7 1/2 years in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 28. He had accepted an athletic scholarship a month before the robbery.