PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Officials in Philadelphia say the death of a Ukrainian hockey coach awaiting trial on federal child molestation charges was a suicide by hanging.
The city medical examiner’s office said Wednesday that Ivan Pravilov killed himself in his prison cell.
The 49-year-old Pravilov was found dead Feb. 10 at the federal prison in Philadelphia. He hadn’t been on suicide watch.
Pravilov was a mentor to several National Hockey League and U.S. college players and ran a Ukrainian hockey school before coming to the U.S. in 2007.
He had pleaded not guilty to charges he fondled a 14-year-old Ukrainian boy at his Philadelphia apartment last month and threatened a player who witnessed it.
His public defender declined to comment Wednesday. A prison spokesman didn’t immediately return messages.
