Colleges

Clarett pleads guilty, sentenced to more than 7 years in prison

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 19, 2006

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Former Ohio State football star Maurice Clarett was sentenced to prison for at least 3½ years Monday after pleading guilty to aggravated robbery and carrying a concealed weapon.

Judge David Fais detailed the agreement on the day jury selection was to begin in a case in which Clarett was accused of holding up two people outside a bar.

Sentenced to 7½ years with release possible after 3½ years, Clarett agreed to serve five years of probation after the prison sentence.

Clarett, 22, said he understood he was pleading guilty and reversing his earlier plea.

"I'd like to apologize for my behavior, and I accept the time that was given to me," he said.

After the deal was announced, Clarett looked at his mother, who was sobbing and holding his 8-week-old daughter while sitting next to his girlfriend.

The concealed-weapon charge was from Clarett's Aug. 9 arrest after a highway chase with police who found four loaded guns in Clarett's sport utility vehicle.

Clarett's attorneys said those guns came from his mother's house and were intended for someone else, but the attorneys did not elaborate.

Clarett, who led Ohio State to the national championship in 2002, had been charged in that police altercation with two counts of failure to comply with an order from a police officer and improper handling of a firearm, in addition to the concealed-weapon charge.

In the other case, authorities said Clarett flashed a gun and robbed two people of a cell phone early Jan. 1.

Had Clarett been convicted on all charges, he would have faced three to 34 years in prison.

Clarett's attorneys hope he can be put in a state prison with workout facilities so he can stay in shape for a possible return to football.

[Last modified September 19, 2006, 01:41:59]