Like any other criminal, NFL wide receiver Donte Stallworth stood in front of a judge and gave his plead of guilty to DUI manslaughter charges, a crime that serves up to 15 years in prison. However, unlike other criminals Stallworth got off with a light sentence.
In March, Stallworth struck and killed a 59-year-old man with his 2005 Bentley GT. The man, Mario Reyes, was trying to catch a bus to get to work just after 7 a.m. Police later found that Stallworth's blood alcohol content was .126 when the crash occurred, above the legal limit of .08 in the state of Florida.
After accepting a plea deal, Stallworth agreed to plead guilty. As part of the deal, Stallworth agreed to spend just 30 days in prison. Yes that's right, Reyes is gone forever, and Stallworth is spending just 30 days behind bars.
Granted, Stallworth will have to spend two years under house arrest, eight years on probation and will never be allowed to drive again. He has also been suspended indefinitely from the NFL by Rodger Godell, with a doubtful future in the sport. But he still is only spending 30 days in jail, which begs the question, is money really worth letting someone get away with the killing of an innocent life?
The Reyes family sure believes so. They reached a financial agreement with Stallworth, allowing him to get away with virtually no jail time, in my opinion selling out Reyes.
It just doesn't seem right to me. If this had happened to anyone in my family, I would make sure Stallworth would serve the maximum jail time possible. No money can take away the emotional pain you get from losing a loved one.Shame on his family for letting Stallworth get away with this.
This is just one situation of many, where a celebrity is higher then the law. It dosent seem right, they should be held to the same standards as any other citizen of this country. For Stallworth to avoid jail time, is a slap in the face to our judicial system.
The one person who does deserve some credit, is Rodger Godell. He seems to be the only one that realizes how serious this situation is. Stallworth will most likely never play a down in the NFL again, due to Godell's indefinate suspension.
"The conduct reflected in your guilty plea resulted in the tragic loss of life and was inexcusable," Goodell wrote Stallworth, according to the league's announcement.
New reports have come out that Stallworth also was under the influence of marijuana. That only furthers the extent of how serious this really was. Stallworth was at no state to be anywhere near a moving vehicle.
As Stallworth gets away with something no normal citizen could, he will be sitting on his living room couch, hopefully remorsefull, but thinking thank God I have money.
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