EVERETT, Wash.  -- A columnist for The Herald newspaper of Everett has resigned, a week after he was accused of plagiarizing a Sports Illustrated article for one of his columns.

John Sleeper says he resigned Thursday because he could not expect to have credibility if he returned to work. He apologized to the newspaper and its readers, saying he wrote the column after returning from a stressful trip to deal with a family problem.

Herald executive editor Neal Pattison says the decision to resign was Sleeper's.

Sleeper had worked for The Herald for 11 years.