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Fighter Giardello Faces Prison Term Sentenced Six to 18 Months For Beating of Gas Station Worker; Free Pending Appeal PHILADELPHIA, Pa., June 10 UP.— Joey Giardello, top middleweight contender, was sentenced today to six to 18 months in prison on charges of conspiracy and assault "and battery in the beating of a gasoline station attendant. The sentence may mean the finish to Giardellos career as a boxer. Judge Edward P. Little said he was sorry that Giardellos ring career may be affected, but he said it was the defendants own doing. "The court takes no pleasure in pronouncing sentence," the judge said. "It is a duty the court must perform. I deeply regret the fact that your career may be affected, but it was affected by your own act." Plan Appeal to Superior Court The fighters attorney, Michael Von Moschzisker, said, he would appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court, and the judge permitted Giardello to go free in ,500 bail pending outcome of the appeal* Giardello, whose brush with the law had cost him a shot at Bobo Olsons middleweight title, was convicted at a jury trial March 16 of assaulting Howard Short, 31, a gas station attendant, and of three counts of riot. Little, who presided at the three-day trial, termed the verdict "warranted in this case." If the conviction and sentence stand, it may mean the end of Giardello as a boxer. Most states will not license fighters convicted of a crime. Giardellos license expired December 31 and Alfred M. Klein, state boxing commissioner, said the fighter has "not sought a renewal. Giardello, who has maintained his innocence throughout, was indicted December 15 with three other men, all of whom are awaiting sentencing. * Short testified Giardello struck him with a crutch after the boxer and a group of companions stopped at the station for gasoline on October 29. Giardello, who was using the crutch because of an injury sustained in an automobile accident, contended he never left the Car and tried to get the other men to stop beating Short.
