6th Simpson co-defendant surrenders

LAS VEGAS - The sixth and final man sought in the armed robbery case against O.J. Simpson has surrendered in court.

Charles Bruce Ehrlich, 53, was taken into custody in Las Vegas after a brief hearing before a judge who set his bail at $32,000.

Ehrlich's lawyer, John Moran Jr., said Ehrlich will plead not guilty.

"He's not a principal in this thing," Moran said of allegations that Ehrlich joined Simpson and the other men in kidnapping and stealing sports memorabilia from two collectors last week.

Ehrlich later posted bail, police said. Moran said Ehrlich planned to return home to the Miami area.

Ehrlich faces the same charges as four other co-defendants, including Charles Cashmore, who was arraigned Friday on charges including kidnapping, armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. A kidnapping conviction could result in a sentence of life in prison with parole. Simpson faces one additional charge of felony coercion.

Cashmore's lawyer, Edward Miley, acknowledged that Cashmore has a 1997 conviction in a Utah bad check case, and has a bad check charge pending in Las Vegas.

"He has essentially no funds at this point to post any kind of bail," Miley said.

Prosecutors accuse Simpson of leading the five men as they burst into a hotel room at a Las Vegas casino, displayed guns, and stole autographed footballs and other collectible items.

Authorities allege that the suspects went to the hotel room on the pretext of brokering a deal with Alfred Beardsley, 46, an accuser along with Bruce Fromong.

According to police reports, the collectors were ordered at gunpoint to hand over items valued at as much as $100,000, including football game balls signed by Simpson, Joe Montana lithographs, baseballs autographed by Pete Rose and Duke Snider and framed awards and plaques.

Beardsley, an ex-convict from Burbank, was arrested Wednesday at a Las Vegas Strip hotel on a warrant alleging he violated parole travel restrictions by traveling to Nevada. He remained held without bail.