Posted on 09/22/2009 8:26:59 AM PDT by iowamark
Former Super Bowl star Plaxico Burress was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison for possessing a gun at a night club.
The former New York Giants star tearfully told his family goodbye as he surrendered to begin his prison stint for attempted criminal possession of a weapon after accidentally shooting himself in the thigh.
Burress was indicted on two counts of weapon possession and one count of reckless endangerment and pleaded guilty Aug. 20. He had faced a minimum sentence of 3 1/2 years on those charges if convicted at trial. He pleaded to the lesser charge and agreed to the two-year term.
With time off for good behavior, Burress likely will serve 20 months. He will be monitored an additional two years after he is freed from prison, which could come as early as the spring of 2011.
The Giants released Burress in April, but the 32-year-old told ESPN he hopes to resume his NFL career when he completes his sentence.
Burress, who caught the winning touchdown for the Giants over the previously undefeated New England Patriots in the final minute of the 2008 Super Bowl, and former teammate Antonio Pierce were at the Latin Quarter nightclub in Manhattan last November when a gun tucked into Burress' waistband slipped down his leg and fired, wounding him.
The gun was not licensed in New York or in New Jersey, where Burress lived. His license to carry a concealed weapon in the Florida had expired in May 2008.
Pierce, who drove Burress to a hospital after the shooting, was not indicted.
Defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman has said Burress was thinking of his family in taking the plea, but the attorney questioned the recommended prison sentence.
"This was not an intentional criminal act," Brafman said the day of the plea. "In my judgment, a two-year prison sentence is a very severe punishment."
Gil Brandt, an analyst on NFL Sirius Radio and the former head of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys, said Burress won't be too old for a comeback when he's released from prison.
"First of all, Plaxico is a guy who keeps himself in pretty good shape," Brandt said. "Lots of times guys get heavy in the off-season. He is not a guy who has done that."
But Brandt intimated it could be difficult for Burress to reacquire his football skills after so much time on the sidelines.
"It's like a person who has gone to college or high school and drops out of school for two years," he said. "It is hard to reacquire your study habits. I think it is hard to reacquire the work habits you need to be successful when you have been away from the game for two years or so."
Not likely. The man is 6-4 and 220 pounds but even then, he’s likely to be segregated if there are threats against him. Mark Gastineau is in jail and kept in PC unit so inmates don’t use him to gain some rep in the joint.
We can't arm the peasants, you know. It might give them silly, dangerous ideas, like liberty...equality...self-empowerment.
Not nearly as stiff as what his cellmate will surprise him with.
Two years for being a STOOPID S.O.B.
He can get some survival hints from fellow thug Michael Vick.
The Sullivan Act (the current handgun permitting system) was passed in 1921, as a time when the (largely Irish) NYC machine feared Jewish and Italian rackateers AND the largely upstate (WASP)State Senate feared “political radicalism and assassinations.” It was a perfect storm of cultural and political fears.
If you're going to shoot yourself in the leg, do it in some other state, where being a dumbass is legal.
20 months in the slammer for carrying a gun is way too harsh. If Plaxico Burress had been caught with an illegal concealed weapon here in Texas, it would be a misdeamenor and with no prior record, he would be a cinch for probation. Blue state stupidity if you ask me.
Where have I heard that before?
Coming soon to a theater near you: “The Longest Yard III”
Burress lived in New Jersey, so he couldn't get a carry permit in NYC.
LOL
Guy shoots himself accidently and gets two years in jail. I wonder what the sentence would be if he wasn’t a football star? He’s probaly guilty of being pretty stupid, but this sentence is a little much.
Mark Gastineau is not in jail. He was in jail ~10 years ago...he's been out since 2001. Time to update your records. ;-)
According to Wiki, Gastineau is out and claims to be a “born again” Christian.
LOL! Nice!
in my personal view, once you’ve blown a slug through your own thigh, you’ve already been punished enough
I had to look that up, because I thought he was dead....he's apparently been out for ten years.
I think putting a man in jail for two years over a stupid gun accident is absurd. Is he a danger to anyone now?
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