Former Nebraska football player convicted of first-degree murder

Former Nebraska football player Thunder Collins was found guilty of first-degree murder and several other charges by a Douglas County jury Monday.

The jury also found Collins guilty of attempted second-degree murder, felony assault and two counts of using a weapon to commit a felony.

Collins faces a mandatory life sentence for the murder conviction and up to 170 years in prison for the other counts.

The charges stemmed from a shooting in Omaha in September 2008, which prosecutors said was a botched drug deal, and where Collins planned to rob the other men involved. Timothy Thomas was left dead, and Marshall Turner was seriously wounded following the shooting.

Prosecutors said Collins had the two Californians bring cocaine to Omaha in order to make some fast money. Around a kilo of cocaine was taken from Thomas and Turner after Collins and another man jumped them.

The jury, consisting of six men and six women, began deliberation on Friday afternoon and delivered a verdict at around 2 p.m.

Collins played running back for the Cornhuskers from 2000 to 2002, when he left the team, saying he needed to spend more time taking care of his younger brother, who moved to Nebraska from Los Angeles. Collins' departure came after an undisclosed NCAA rules violation resulted in a four-game suspension.

In 2003, he spent a short time with the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League.

The murder conviction isn't Collins' first brush with the law. In 2001, he was charged with misdemeanor assault for fighting with a former girlfriend and pled guilty to a lesser charge. He was also sentenced to 10 days in jail in 2006 after pleading no contest to obstructing an Omaha police officer following an incident where witnesses said he had been involved in a shooting.

Collins' sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 12.