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Daly's wife charged with running illegal rackets

John Daly faces more turmoil off the course, although this time it's not his own.

His wife and her parents are charged in a federal indictment alleging they were involved in a drug ring and an illegal gambling operation.

Sherrie Miller Daly, who married the two-time major champion in 2001, appeared in court on Monday in Oxford along with her parents, Alvis Miller, 60, and Billie Miller, 57.

Daly, who recently gave birth to the couple's first child, faces up to 20 years in prison on each of the two counts in the indictment.

Prosecutors in Mississippi said the golfer didn't know about his wife's alleged drug activities, which took place between 1996 and 2002.

John Daly's agent, Bud Martin, declined comment on Tuesday. He said Daly was expected to play next week in the PGA Championship, which he won in 1991.

The July 28 indictment alleges the three were part of a larger conspiracy to buy and sell cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana, and paid for them with cash from previous drug sales.

It lists 47 bank deposits just under US$10,000 -- the limit for reporting federal cash transactions in the US -- between 1998 and 2001.

Alvis Miller was charged with nine counts, while Billie Miller faces two counts. All three listed the same home address in Collierville, Tennessee; calls there went unanswered on Tuesday. They were all released on unsecured bonds.

It was the latest setback for John Daly, whose career took off when he won the PGA Championship at Crooked Stick with his booming drives and grip-it-and-rip-it style.

He has been through alcohol rehabilitation twice, the second time after trashing his hotel room following a drinking binge at The Players Championship in 1997.

He last won a tournament at the 2001 BMW International Open in Germany, his first victory in six years.

Sherrie Daly is his fourth wife. They met during the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tennessee, in 2001 and married seven weeks later.
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