Ex-Puerto Rican basketball star sentenced

Jose Ortiz-Rijos, a former NBA and Olympic player from Puerto Rico, has been sent to prison for growing marijuana, federal authorities said Monday. Ortiz-Rijos, 48, who pleaded guilty last November, was ordered Thursday to spend six months in prison and nine months in a drug rehabilitation facility before serving four years of supervised release, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a release on its Web site. He also is to perform 600 hours of community service. ICE officials said he is expected to speak to students at Puerto Rican schools and other venues about the dangers of substance abuse, and do public service announcements. Ortiz-Rijos admitted possessing 218 pot plants he intended to distribute. He was charged following a raid of his residence in Cavey last June. The Utah Jazz made the 6-foot-11 center the first Puerto Rican drafted into the NBA, taken No. 15 in 1987. He was with the Jazz from 1988 to 1990. Ortiz-Rios also played professionally in Europe and was a member of Puerto Rico's national team from 1983 to 2004. He was a member of four Olympic teams.