Plaxico Burress sentenced to 2 years in prison

[MrBill]

Plax just got 2 years in prison and 2 years of supervised release. I bet he would have walked with probation if he had agreed to the reduced contract the Giants offered him earlier this year.

Dumbass.

NEW YORK -- One-time Super Bowl hero Plaxico Burress was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday for violating New York's stringent gun laws and was immediately taken into custody following his hearing.

Burress was expected to serve 20 months of the sentence, which he agreed to last month when he pleaded guilty to a lesser firearms charge, followed by two years of probation. The charges stemmed from an incident late last fall, when Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh at a Manhattan nightclub.

The case went to a grand jury after months of negotiations between prosecutors and Burress' defense attorney broke down, apparently because Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau insisted that the former New York Giants wide receiver serve at least two years in prison for violating the city's strict gun laws.

On July 29, Burress took the rare and risky step of testifying before the grand jury, hoping to convince the panel that the gun was not used in the commission of a crime and that he was the lone victim. But days later, Burress was indicted on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment. He faced a minimum sentence of 3½ years if convicted at trial.

On Aug. 20, the day he was to be arraigned, Burress agreed to a plea deal and pleaded guilty to attempted weapons possession in the second degree.

Hours after Burress' court appearance, the NFL announced that commissioner Roger Goodell had suspended the receiver and said Burress is ineligible to sign with any team until he completes his prison term. After that, Burress may sign with an NFL team without further review.

Burress and former teammate Antonio Pierce were at the Latin Quarter nightclub in Manhattan in late November 2008 when a gun tucked into Burress' waistband slipped down his leg and fired, shooting him in the right thigh.

The bullet narrowly missed a nightclub security guard who was standing inches away, prosecutors said. It lodged in the floor and was recovered by a bartender.

The gun was not licensed in New York or in New Jersey, where Burress lived. His license to carry a concealed weapon in the state of Florida had expired in May 2008.

Prosecutors said Pierce drove Burress to a hospital, then took the gun to his own home in New Jersey. It was later delivered to Burress' home. Pierce, who also testified before the grand jury, was not charged.

ESPN reporter Sal Paolantonio and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

[killgod]

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

 

[Scorask]

Plax just got 2 years in prison and 2 years of supervised release. I bet he would have walked with probation if he had agreed to the reduced contract the Giants offered him earlier this year.

Dumbass.

Nope, that wouldn't have even kept him out of jail either. mandatory sentence. Regardless he has a while to figure out why he didn't just register the gun, Dumbass!

 

[DJ Fog]

NY doesn't take unlicensed firearms in busy areas lightly.

For once a celeb isn't able to buy his way out of facing the law.

 

[SethMode]

I understand the law in this case, but it still bothers me that Donte Stallworth killed a man and got 30 days...

 

[MrBill]

Nope, that wouldn't have even kept him out of jail either. mandatory sentence. Regardless he has a while to figure out why he didn't just register the gun, Dumbass!

I guarantee you he would have been offered a plea bargain to a lesser charge if he was an active player on the Giants roster. What kind of elected official is going to send the local teams best WR to jail during the middle of a season when they have a legitimate shot at winning it all? It would be political suicide.

By Plaxico balking because he thought he could be the rap and rejecting the Giants reduced contract request, he removed them from being in his corner when he needed them most.

 

[DJ Rhude]

Damn shame.....I think the jailing was unjust, but he put himself in that position

The cat was a super bowl hero, career was booming....

And he throws it all away in one mindless night

Thing I always wondered is, he proclaimed to carry a fire arm because he was apprehensive of the rash of robberies that happened in or near a few players home

So wtf were you doing out in a club? Shouldn't you be home with your wife and baby making sure they were protected if you were that scared?

 

[Chrispy]

I understand the law in this case, but it still bothers me that Donte Stallworth killed a man and got 30 days...

They had video tape showing that it wasn't his fault, the guy ran in front of the car to cross the street.

 

[MrBill]

Damn shame.....I think the jailing was unjust, but he put himself in that position

The cat was a super bowl hero, career was booming....

And he throws it all away in one mindless night

Thing I always wondered is, he proclaimed to carry a fire arm because he was apprehensive of the rash of robberies that happened in or near a few players home

So wtf were you doing out in a club? Shouldn't you be home with your wife and baby making sure they were protected if you were that scared?

Exactly. Plax got them to the Superbowl in the first place because of the best game of his career against the Packers in the NFC Championship Game and then caught the game winning catch against the undefeated Pats. Stuff of legends.

 

[Scorask]

I guarantee you he would have been offered a plea bargain to a lesser charge if he was an active player on the Giants roster. What kind of elected official is going to send the local teams best WR to jail during the middle of a season when they have a legitimate shot at winning it all? It would be political suicide.

By Plaxico balking because he thought he could be the rap and rejecting the Giants reduced contract request, he removed them from being in his corner when he needed them most.

I gaurantee you that wouldn't have helped. Mandatory Minimum Sentencing is not negotiable, especially if you are indighted. Unless, as Sethmode mentioned, if this happened in Florida, he could have plea bargained like Donte did, because his charge didn't have Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Guidelines. Keyword being Mandatory!

 

[DJ Rhude]

I gaurantee you that wouldn't have helped.

I would have to agree

Plus once Major Bloomberg said he wanted him persecuted to the full extent of the law, I knew he was sunk....the major gave the green light for them to go after him hard

 

[SethMode]

They had video tape showing that it wasn't his fault, the guy ran in front of the car to cross the street.

I know, but he was still drunk and (I believe) high...that makes it at least a LITTLE his fault...

He probably stops if he wasn't.

I still don't think 30 days is enough for DD.

 

[MrBill]

I gaurantee you that wouldn't have helped. Mandatory Minimum Sentencing is not negotiable, especially if you are indighted. Unless, as Sethmode mentioned, if this happened in Florida, he could have plea bargained like Donte did, because his charge didn't have Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Guidelines. Keyword being Mandatory!

I would have to agree

Plus once Major Bloomberg said he wanted him persecuted to the full extent of the law, I knew he was sunk....the major gave the green light for them to go after him hard

Plax wasn't indicted until after he rejected the Giants contract offer. Shit would have happened behind the scenes and no indictment with mandatory minimums would have ever been issued. Mayor Bloomberg would have wanted no part in sending the local teams best WR to the slammer either, he is also an elected official. The Giants owners would have contributed to a few campaigns and fundraisers, Plax would have said he was sorry and plead to a lesser charge and the mayor would have said he thought justice was done and he supported the DA's decision to offer a plea bargain.

 

[ralaw]

Sethmode, aren't you a lawyer? I may be confusing you with someone, but I find it strange that a lawyer wouldn't understand the differences between the Burress and Stallworth case, which means they shouldn't be compared.

 

[ralaw]

Plax wasn't indicted until after he rejected the Giants contract offer. Shit would have happened behind the scenes and no indictment with mandatory minimums would have ever been issued. Mayor Bloomberg would have wanted no part in sending the local teams best WR to the slammer either, he is also an elected official. The Giants owners would have contributed to a few campaigns and fundraisers, Plax would have said he was sorry and plead to a lesser charge and the mayor would have said he thought justice was done and he supported the DA's decision to offer a plea bargain.

I'm not really sure about that, because Bloomberg has always seemed to want to make an example out of Burress for a law that most had no idea of. I guarantee after this case people are going to be mindful of what and how they bring guns into the state, which is what Bloomberg wanted. Either way IMO Burress' celebrity got the best of him.

 

[SethMode]

Sethmode, aren't you a lawyer? I may be confusing you with someone, but I find it strange that a lawyer wouldn't understand the differences between the Burress and Stallworth case, which means they shouldn't be compared.

First of all, I'm an immigration attorney, so it's not at all related and its been a while since law school.

Secondly, like I said, I understand the law. I'm speaking more of general morality, not legality. It just bothers me that a guy can get behind the wheel of a car hammered and lead to the death of a person, and just get put in prison for 30 days.

 

[ralaw]

First of all, I'm an immigration attorney, so it's not at all related and its been a while since law school.

Secondly, like I said, I understand the law. I'm speaking more of general morality, not legality. It just bothers me that a guy can get behind the wheel of a car hammered and lead to the death of a person, and just get put in prison for 30 days.

I have a good friend who is an immigration attorney in Tennessee and Charlotte, so I understand what that deals with, but my point was more in line with understanding that these cases have entirely different circumstances, so they shouldn't be compared.

 

[FlawLeSs]

Plax wasn't indicted until after he rejected the Giants contract offer. Shit would have happened behind the scenes and no indictment with mandatory minimums would have ever been issued. Mayor Bloomberg would have wanted no part in sending the local teams best WR to the slammer either, he is also an elected official. The Giants owners would have contributed to a few campaigns and fundraisers, Plax would have said he was sorry and plead to a lesser charge and the mayor would have said he thought justice was done and he supported the DA's decision to offer a plea bargain.

i think this is exactly it.. so much stuff goes on behind the scenes that we dont know about, its funny

 

[SethMode]

I have a good friend who is an immigration attorney in Tennessee and Charlotte, so I understand what that deals with, but my point was more in line with understanding that these cases have entirely different circumstances, so they shouldn't be compared.

No I understand, and I wasn't as clear as I should have been. I get the differences and that on a legal level it shouldn't be compared, I'm just saying that I have a moral irritation for DUI's and think that, often, the penalties are too light. Just my personal opinion. I understand why under the circumstances the sentences differed.

 

[ralaw]

No I understand, and I wasn't as clear as I should have been. I get the differences and that on a legal level it shouldn't be compared, I'm just saying that I have a moral irritation for DUI's and think that, often, the penalties are too light. Just my personal opinion. I understand why under the circumstances the sentences differed.

I think they are too light, but IMO that has to do with social reasons more than anything else. I think its also important to realize Stallworth got out of this case due to the plea bargain. Basically, being an athlete Stallworth has access to enough money to plea his way out and to appease the family. If anything this is a case of, "depending on the case if you have enough money you can get out of it," because I'd be willing to bet if he didn't have an excessively large bank account (like most) he'd be sitting in jail right now (like most would be) accident or not, because he was drunk and high.