Feb. 2009: Former star San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Dana Stubblefield will not go to prison for lying to federal investigators about using steroids during the Balco scandal.
He received only probation for pleading guilty to lying to federal agents in 2003 as they were probing Balco, the now-defunct Peninsula lab at the heart of distributing performance-enhancing drugs in sports. Stubblefield will also pay a $5,000 fine.
June 2007: Two former University at Albany football players admitted to raping a freshman classmate in their dorm room last fall but will serve no more than six months in Albany County jail. In a compromise reached eight months after their Oct. 16 arrests, Lorenzo Ashbourne, of Georgia, and Julius Harris, of Florida, both 19, pleaded guilty to felony third-degree rape and surrendered in Albany County Court to begin serving their sentences immediately. The defendants also face 10 years probation and will have to register as sex offenders for at least 20 years.
March 2007: Chicago Bears defensive lineman Tank Johnson is sentenced to four months in jail for violating probation in a 2005 gun case. Johnson, who pleaded guilty to violating his probation, was taken into custody in Skokie, Ill. He could have been sentenced to up to a year behind bars. Johnson also must pay a $2,500 fine. Johnson was arrested on misdemeanor weapons charges Dec. 14 after police raided his home in Gurnee, about 40 miles northwest of Chicago, and found six unregistered firearms. At the time, he was on probation in a November 2005 Cook County case. In that case, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge stemming from an arrest in which a nightclub valet reported seeing Johnson with a handgun in his vehicle.
Feb 2005: Dany Heatley, star forward for the Atlanta Thrashers hockey team was charged with vehicular for crashing his speeding Ferrari in Buckhead and fatally injuring teammate Dan Snyder in a September 2003 crash. He pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to three years probation and a fine. Because Heatley was not driving under the influence of alcohol, the sentence is not considered unusually lenient for metro Atlanta.
May 2001: A judge sent Darryl Strawberry, an eight-time All-Star, who has battled colon cancer and depression along with drug addiction, to rehab instead of prison for going on a four-day drug binge. Strawberry has five times violated the terms of his release on a 1999 conviction for drug possession and solicitation of prostitution. Prosecutors and Strawberry's probation officer had wanted the one-time slugger sent to prison for 18 months.
June 1999: St. Louis Rams linebacker Leonard Little pleaded guilty and was sentenced when he ran a red light and collided with a car driven by Susan Gutweiler, 47, of Oakville. Gutweiler was killed. Little was sentenced to 90 nights in jail as part of a work-release program, 1,000 hours of community service and four years' probation.
Jan. 1984: Craig MacTavish, a hockey player then a member of the Boston Bruins, spent one year in jail for the vehicular homicide death of 26-year-old Kim Radley in Peabody, Mass. MacTavish missed the 1984-85 season, then returned in 1985-86 with the Edmonton Oilers. His career continued until 1997.
Jan. 1990: Reggie Rogers was the No. 1 draft choice of the Lions in 1987. In Oct. 1988, he was a drunk driver who ran a red light and killed three kids and ended up spending a year in jail. On that night Rogers drank four or five beers and two shots of gin at a Pontiac, Mich., bar, drove his Jeep Cherokee to a liquor store, bought a 40-ounce bottle of beer, then ran a red light at 50 miles an hour and broadsided the car with the three teens.
Sources: San Jose Mercury News, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Albany Times-Union, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, New York Times, Albany Times Union, Atlanta Journal Constitution
He received only probation for pleading guilty to lying to federal agents in 2003 as they were probing Balco, the now-defunct Peninsula lab at the heart of distributing performance-enhancing drugs in sports. Stubblefield will also pay a $5,000 fine.
June 2007: Two former University at Albany football players admitted to raping a freshman classmate in their dorm room last fall but will serve no more than six months in Albany County jail. In a compromise reached eight months after their Oct. 16 arrests, Lorenzo Ashbourne, of Georgia, and Julius Harris, of Florida, both 19, pleaded guilty to felony third-degree rape and surrendered in Albany County Court to begin serving their sentences immediately. The defendants also face 10 years probation and will have to register as sex offenders for at least 20 years.
March 2007: Chicago Bears defensive lineman Tank Johnson is sentenced to four months in jail for violating probation in a 2005 gun case. Johnson, who pleaded guilty to violating his probation, was taken into custody in Skokie, Ill. He could have been sentenced to up to a year behind bars. Johnson also must pay a $2,500 fine. Johnson was arrested on misdemeanor weapons charges Dec. 14 after police raided his home in Gurnee, about 40 miles northwest of Chicago, and found six unregistered firearms. At the time, he was on probation in a November 2005 Cook County case. In that case, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge stemming from an arrest in which a nightclub valet reported seeing Johnson with a handgun in his vehicle.
Feb 2005: Dany Heatley, star forward for the Atlanta Thrashers hockey team was charged with vehicular for crashing his speeding Ferrari in Buckhead and fatally injuring teammate Dan Snyder in a September 2003 crash. He pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to three years probation and a fine. Because Heatley was not driving under the influence of alcohol, the sentence is not considered unusually lenient for metro Atlanta.
May 2001: A judge sent Darryl Strawberry, an eight-time All-Star, who has battled colon cancer and depression along with drug addiction, to rehab instead of prison for going on a four-day drug binge. Strawberry has five times violated the terms of his release on a 1999 conviction for drug possession and solicitation of prostitution. Prosecutors and Strawberry's probation officer had wanted the one-time slugger sent to prison for 18 months.
June 1999: St. Louis Rams linebacker Leonard Little pleaded guilty and was sentenced when he ran a red light and collided with a car driven by Susan Gutweiler, 47, of Oakville. Gutweiler was killed. Little was sentenced to 90 nights in jail as part of a work-release program, 1,000 hours of community service and four years' probation.
Jan. 1984: Craig MacTavish, a hockey player then a member of the Boston Bruins, spent one year in jail for the vehicular homicide death of 26-year-old Kim Radley in Peabody, Mass. MacTavish missed the 1984-85 season, then returned in 1985-86 with the Edmonton Oilers. His career continued until 1997.
Jan. 1990: Reggie Rogers was the No. 1 draft choice of the Lions in 1987. In Oct. 1988, he was a drunk driver who ran a red light and killed three kids and ended up spending a year in jail. On that night Rogers drank four or five beers and two shots of gin at a Pontiac, Mich., bar, drove his Jeep Cherokee to a liquor store, bought a 40-ounce bottle of beer, then ran a red light at 50 miles an hour and broadsided the car with the three teens.
Sources: San Jose Mercury News, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Albany Times-Union, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, New York Times, Albany Times Union, Atlanta Journal Constitution
