Lou Palatella

Louis Marino Palatella (born July 28, 1933) is a former American football player who played for San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL).

Lou Palatella

No. 68
Position:	Guard
Personal information
Born:	(1933-07-28) July 28, 1933 (age 90) Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:	230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school:	Vandergrift (PA)
College:	Pittsburgh
NFL Draft:	1955 / Round: 12 / Pick: 141
Career history
San Francisco 49ers (1955–1958)
Player stats at PFR

Early life

Palatella played football for Vandegrift High School.

College career

Palatella played college football at the University of Pittsburgh.^[1][2]

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

Palatella played as a guard and a linebacker with the San Francisco 49ers^[3] for four seasons.^[1][4]

Later career

After retiring from football, Palatella became a liquor distributor in Southern California. He owns a tequila company^[4] and a bourbon distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky, which his wife Marci and he opened in 2018.^[5][6]

Personal life

Lou Palatella is married to Marci Palatella who was charged in connection to 2019 college admissions bribery scandal and is facing mail fraud charges for allegedly paying $575,000 to a nonprofit that allegedly assisted in her son’s SAT test and conspiring to bribe a University of Southern California athletic director to designate her son as a football recruit.^[7][8] Following her arrest, Marci pled not guilty and was released on a $1,000,000 unsecured bond.^[9] She would appear in court.^[9] On August 24, 2021, Marci reversed course and agreed to plead guilty.^[10][11] The next day, she officially pled guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud.^[12] On December 16, 2021, Marci was sentenced to six weeks in prison, a $250,000 fine, two years of supervised release, with a condition of home confinement for the first six months of supervised release, and 500 hours of community service, as previously recommended by both the prosecution and defense.^[13][10]

References

1. "Lou Palatella NFL & AFL Football Statistics | Pro-Football-Reference.com". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
2. "Feds bust wife of former Vandergrift High, NFL player in college admissions scandal". March 14, 2019.
3. Phil Barber (March 12, 2019). "Healdsburg woman swept up in college admissions scandal". The Press Democrat. Santa Rosa, California.
4. David Driscoll (June 16, 2013). "A Tequila Adventure". K&L Spirits Journal.
5. Jim Brooks (February 13, 2016). "NFL legend and his wife are bringing Bardstown its first craft distillery". Nelson County Gazette.
6. Billy Kobin (March 13, 2019). "'He can never know': Kentucky bourbon distillery owner charged in college cheating scam". Louisville Courier Journal.
7. "Bay Area Parents Face Additional Grand Jury Charges in College Admission Scandal". October 22, 2019.
8. "Report: Wife of Former Pitt Football Player Charged in College Admissions Scam". March 15, 2019.
9. Kobin, Billy (April 16, 2019). "Kentucky distillery owner will plead not guilty in college admissions scandal". Courier Journal. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
10. "Parent in College Admissions Case Agrees to Plead Guilty". United States Attorney's Office:District of Massachusetts. August 24, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
11. Alanna Durkin Richer, Associated Press (August 25, 2021). "Kentucky distillery owner to plead guilty in nationwide college admissions scandal case". Courier Journal. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
12. "Investigations of College Admissions and Testing Bribery Scheme". U.S. Department of Justice. March 11, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
13. Yee, Gregory (December 16, 2021). "Bay Area liquor company CEO sentenced to six weeks in prison in college admissions case". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 18, 2022.