CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Rae Carruth, the Carolina Panthers' 1997 first-round pick, is set to be released on Monday after spending the past 17 years in the Sampson Correctional Institution in Clinton, North Carolina.
Carruth, now 44, was convicted on Jan. 16, 2001, and sentenced to 18 to 24 years for conspiracy to commit murder of his pregnant girlfriend, Cherica Adams, who died about a month after the shooting. At that time, there had not been any cases of an active first-round NFL draft pick who had been charged and convicted with such a crime.
Carruth's release is a fresh reminder of that day on Nov.