Posts Tagged ‘Plaxico Burress’

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 agreed to a plea deal last month and pleaded guilty to a lesser firearms charge. The charges stemmed from an incident late last fall, in which Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh at a Manhattan nightclub with a gun that had not been licensed in New York.

He is expected to serve about 20 months with credit for good behavior — meaning he could be released as early as the spring of 2011 — followed by two years of probation.

Burress arrived at the courthouse at 9:41 a.m. ET on Tuesday wearing a jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, a stark contrast to the dark blue suit he wore last month when he entered his guilty plea.

He was accompanied by his pregnant wife, Tiffany; his almost 3-year-old son, Elijah, whom he carried; his father; grandmother; and stepmother.

Before the sentencing began, Burress asked for and was granted permission by Judge Michael Melkonian to say one last goodbye to his wife and family, seated in the fifth row of the courthouse.

The hearing was brief, as the prosecution and defense told the judge they had previously agreed to the guilty plea and two-year sentence.

A soft-spoken Burress then apologized to his family and fans and thanked them for their support. “We will all get through this,” he said.

He was then taken into custody.

Plaxico Burress says he plans to return to the NFL after serving a two-year prison sentence on a weapons charge.

In an ESPN interview broadcast Tuesday night, the former Giants receiver says he isn’t sure about what to expect in prison and is anxious about being separated from his family, revealing his wife is expecting a baby girl on Thanksgiving.

The 32-year-old Burress pleaded guilty last week to attempted criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an accidental shooting last November and accepted a two-year prison term. He is to be sentenced Sept. 22.

He says he didn’t know whether he would live or die in the moments after accidentally shooting himself at a Manhattan nightclub.

“I almost killed my own self. And I got to go to prison for almost killing my own self.”

Former New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress pleaded guilty Thursday to a weapons charge and agreed to a two-year prison term for accidentally shooting himself at a Manhattan nightclub.

Burress pleaded guilty to one count of attempted criminal possession of a weapon, a lesser charge than he initially faced. Under a plea agreement, he agreed to a two-year prison sentence and two years of supervised release.

Burress was indicted earlier this month 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 a trial.

The guilty plea ends months of haggling between Burress’ attorney and the Manhattan district attorney’s office. The case went to a grand jury earlier this month after negotiations broke down, apparently because District Attorney Robert Morgenthau was insisting that Burress serve at least two years in prison.

In a Manhattan state Supreme Court room on Thursday, the soft-spoken Burress, wearing a dark blue suit, first entered a not-guilty plea to the initial charges against him. After attorneys on both sides conferred, Burress said, “guilty” to the new attempted weapons possession charge.

His attorney, Benjamin Brafman, said in court that the 31-year-old Burress was thinking of his family in taking the plea, although he questioned the recommended prison sentence.

“This was not an intentional criminal act,” Brafman said. “In my judgment, a two-year prison sentence is a very severe punishment.”

With time off for good behavior, the sentence could be reduced to 20 months.