By Daniel Lovering
FALL RIVER Mass. Tue May 27, 2014 4:23pm EDT
New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez is arraigned on charges of murder and weapons violations in Attleborough, Massachusetts, after being arrested, in this June 26, 2013 file photo.
Credit: Reuters/Mike George/Pool/Files
<span id="articleText"><span id="midArticle_start"/> FALL RIVER Mass. (Reuters) - An associate of former National Football League star Aaron Hernandez pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of a semi-pro football player in June of last year.
<span id="midArticle_1"/> Carlos Ortiz, 28, entered the plea and was ordered held without bail at his arraignment before Judge Susan Garsh at Fall River Superior Court in Fall River, Massachusetts.
<span id="midArticle_2"/> Ortiz and another Hernandez associate, Ernest Wallace, were indicted by a grand jury in April in connection with the death of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd, who was shot five times at close range, in North Attleboro, Massachusetts.
<span id="midArticle_3"/> Ortiz and Wallace had previously been charged as accessories to Lloyd's murder.
<span id="midArticle_4"/> Hernandez was a star tight end for the New England Patriots with a $41 million contract when he was arrested at his home in North Attleboro days after Lloyd's murder on June 17. He was cut from the team within hours of his arrest.
<span id="midArticle_5"/> Prosecutors said Hernandez, Ortiz and Wallace shot Lloyd after driving him to an industrial area near Hernandez's mansion. Hernandez, who is in jail awaiting trial on murder and weapons charges, has pleaded not guilty.
<span id="midArticle_6"/> Hernandez is due in court in Boston on Wednesday to face separate charges for the 2012 murder of two men he met in a Boston nightclub.
<span id="midArticle_7"/> Lloyd, 27, had been dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancée, Shayana Jenkins. Prosecutors say he and Hernandez had argued after Lloyd socialized at a nightclub with people Hernandez disliked.
<span id="midArticle_8"/> Ortiz's attorney, John Connors, said after Tuesday's arraignment that the evidence in the case had not changed, and that he was concerned for his client.
<span id="midArticle_9"/> "I'm worried that I have an innocent guy who was along for the ride, and now he faces the most serious charges he could possibly face, somebody who looked up to Aaron Hernandez as a hero, just like everybody in Bristol, Connecticut did," he told reporters outside the courthouse, referring to the town where Hernandez grew up and was a high-school football star.
<span id="midArticle_10"/> Connors said earlier on Tuesday that Ortiz had been friends with Hernandez and his family and had played basketball with his brother.
<span id="midArticle_11"/><span id="midArticle_12"/> (Editing by Scott Malone and G Crosse)
<span id="midArticle_13"/>
FALL RIVER Mass. Tue May 27, 2014 4:23pm EDT
Credit: Reuters/Mike George/Pool/Files
<span id="articleText"><span id="midArticle_start"/> FALL RIVER Mass. (Reuters) - An associate of former National Football League star Aaron Hernandez pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of a semi-pro football player in June of last year.
<span id="midArticle_1"/> Carlos Ortiz, 28, entered the plea and was ordered held without bail at his arraignment before Judge Susan Garsh at Fall River Superior Court in Fall River, Massachusetts.
<span id="midArticle_2"/> Ortiz and another Hernandez associate, Ernest Wallace, were indicted by a grand jury in April in connection with the death of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd, who was shot five times at close range, in North Attleboro, Massachusetts.
<span id="midArticle_3"/> Ortiz and Wallace had previously been charged as accessories to Lloyd's murder.
<span id="midArticle_4"/> Hernandez was a star tight end for the New England Patriots with a $41 million contract when he was arrested at his home in North Attleboro days after Lloyd's murder on June 17. He was cut from the team within hours of his arrest.
<span id="midArticle_5"/> Prosecutors said Hernandez, Ortiz and Wallace shot Lloyd after driving him to an industrial area near Hernandez's mansion. Hernandez, who is in jail awaiting trial on murder and weapons charges, has pleaded not guilty.
<span id="midArticle_6"/> Hernandez is due in court in Boston on Wednesday to face separate charges for the 2012 murder of two men he met in a Boston nightclub.
<span id="midArticle_7"/> Lloyd, 27, had been dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancée, Shayana Jenkins. Prosecutors say he and Hernandez had argued after Lloyd socialized at a nightclub with people Hernandez disliked.
<span id="midArticle_8"/> Ortiz's attorney, John Connors, said after Tuesday's arraignment that the evidence in the case had not changed, and that he was concerned for his client.
<span id="midArticle_9"/> "I'm worried that I have an innocent guy who was along for the ride, and now he faces the most serious charges he could possibly face, somebody who looked up to Aaron Hernandez as a hero, just like everybody in Bristol, Connecticut did," he told reporters outside the courthouse, referring to the town where Hernandez grew up and was a high-school football star.
<span id="midArticle_10"/> Connors said earlier on Tuesday that Ortiz had been friends with Hernandez and his family and had played basketball with his brother.
<span id="midArticle_11"/><span id="midArticle_12"/> (Editing by Scott Malone and G Crosse)
<span id="midArticle_13"/>
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