NEW YORK (AP) -Plaxico Burress, Donte’ Stallworth and Michael Vick have football fans talking like lawyers.
Three NFL players, three different crimes – and three very different sentences.
Burress, the one-time Super Bowl star, accepted a plea bargain Thursday with a two-year prison sentence for accidentally shooting himself in the thigh at a Manhattan nightclub. The former New York Giants wide receiver pleaded guilty to one count of attempted criminal possession of a weapon.
Of the first 10 reader comments about the story posted on NFL.com, half mentioned Stallworth or Vick. “The legal system is a joke” began the title of one thread on the message board on the Giants’ Web site.
And so it went throughout cyberspace, with debate about whether Burress’ sentence was too severe inevitably comparing his punishment to that of the two other players.
or torturing animals and running a dogfighting ring for years.
With time off for good behavior, Burress will likely serve 20 months.
Ryan King is a policy analyst for The Sentencing Project in Washington; he’s also a Giants fan who has had these very conversations with his friends.
“The short answer is as easy as it may seem to compare different things, when you dig into the details … you frequently find legal and statutory reasons and practical reasons why,” King said.
Burress’ and Stallworth’s offenses took place in different states – in New York and Florida, respectively. Vick faced federal charges. Different jurisdictions make for different sentencing guidelines.
In Burress’ situation, he faced a minimum of 3 1/2 years in prison if convicted at trial.
Stallworth provides a classic case study in the mitigating factors that can influence a sentence. While he was legally drunk, prosecutors might have had a difficult time securing a conviction because the victim ran into traffic.
Still, observers couldn’t help but wonder whether Stallworth’s celebrity and wealth helped him avoid a longer sentence. Then again, many speculated that Burress was targeted because of his high-profile name.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has waged a long campaign against illegal guns, had publicly castigated Burress for carrying his .40-caliber weapon.
“I think they wanted to set an example, which sucks,” Giants receiver Steve Smith said. “He did something to himself. He didn’t hurt anybody else.”
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AP Sports Writer Tom Canavan in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.
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