URBANA — Two University of Illinois football players who admitted they took a steel sculpture from a Champaign park in late April have been given a chance to avoid a conviction on their records.
James Marchese, 21, and Drew Murtaugh, 20, both of the 500 block of South Second Street, were referred Thursday to the county's felony second-chance program.
The two were charged two weeks ago with felony theft for allegedly stealing a sculpture of a deer from Scott Park on East Springfield Avenue on April 29 and putting it on the roof of their apartment complex across the street.