SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -A jury found Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Jerramy Stevens guilty Friday of driving under the influence of alcohol.
Stevens, a former Seattle Seahawks top pick, was arrested in March after police stopped his car in downtown Scottsdale. Police said Stevens smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.
Seattle let him become a free agent shortly afterward.
The 27-year-old went to trial on three DUI charges stemming from the March incident.
A jury began hearing the case Wednesday and delivered its verdict Friday morning – guilty on all three counts, said Mike Phillips, a Scottsdale spokesman.
Stevens faces a jail sentence of at least 30 days under an Arizona law for “extreme” intoxication, where a driver has a blood alcohol content of .15 percent or higher. The legal limit in Arizona is .08 percent. Stevens’ measured .20 percent when he was arrested.
Court officials said sentencing is set for Oct. 2.
Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden said earlier this week he expects Stevens to play Sunday in Seattle against his former team. And the Seahawks were preparing to defend the speedy, 6-foot-7 receiver.
“We expect to have him back, whenever the courts deem it appropriate,” Gruden said Wednesday from Florida. “We do expect him to play. He’s a guy we have a lot of respect for who has really done some good things here in Tampa.”
The NFL, which has been aggressively punishing players for off-field incidents this year, could act against Stevens for violating the league’s toughened policies on personal conduct.
The Seahawks let go of Stevens soon after his latest run-in with the law, which came after coach Mike Holmgren had thought the native of Olympia, Wash., had matured.
“I thought the young man had a lot of ability,” Holmgren said this week. “And at the risk of shocking everybody, I thought he was making great strides on and off the field. But at the same time, he is his own worst enemy at times.”
Stevens set career highs of 45 receptions, 554 yards and five touchdowns two seasons ago, helping Seattle reach the Super Bowl. Stevens got into a verbal dustup with Pittsburgh linebacker Joey Porter leading up to the game and dropped three passes in the loss to the Steelers.
He had two surgeries on his left knee, missed the first five games of last season and caught just 22 passes for 231 yards and four touchdowns.
Stevens added two touchdowns in two postseason games last January. But in March, a Scottsdale patrol officer noticed Stevens’ car traveling erratically and made an early morning traffic stop. A second officer arrived and began a field sobriety test. Stevens then refused a breathalyzer test and declined to give a blood sample until police obtained a warrant, the report said.
In June 2003, he pleaded guilty to reckless driving in a plea deal after being stopped in the Seattle suburb of Medina for investigation of drunken driving. He received a two-day jail sentence.
He received another five days in jail for violating his probation after he drove into a nursing home in 2000 in a hit-and-run case. Stevens was a student at Washington at the time.
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