Court upholds ex-football player murder-for-hire conviction
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NEW ORLEANS (AP) A federal appeals court has upheld the murder-for-hire conviction of former LSU and Southern University football player Nemessis (nuh-MEE-sis) Bates, nicknamed ''Nemo.''
Bates is serving life after his conviction last year on four federal counts accusing him of hiring hit men to kill a friend who had stolen jewelry and $20,000 cash from him.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction Friday.
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Bates is originally from Vicksburg, Mississippi, but was living in Kenner, Louisiana, at the time of the theft and killing in 2010.
Prosecutors said Bates paid two men $10,000 each to kill Christopher ''Tiger'' Smith.
Bates testified that Walter Porter and Aaron Smith acted on their own.
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Aaron Smith pleaded guilty in 2013 and testified against Bates and Porter.
Porter was convicted March 10, 2016.