Ex-Football Star Clarett Pleads Guilty
Former Ohio State football star Maurice Clarett agreed Monday to plead guilty to aggravated robbery and carrying a concealed weapon. The deal would send him to prison for at least 3½ years and end two criminal cases against him.
The agreement was announced by Judge David Fais on the day jury selection was to begin in a case in which Clarett is accused of holding up two people outside a bar.
The deal called for a 7½-year sentence with release possible after 3½ years. Clarett, 22, also agreed to serve five years of probation after the prison sentence.
Clarett, who was expressionless throughout the hearing, said he understood that he was pleading guilty and reversing his earlier innocent 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, he looked over at his mother who was sobbing and holding his 8-week-old daughter while sitting next to his girlfriend.
Clarett's latest run-in with the law began when police noticed an SUV driving erratically in the early-morning hours on Aug. 9. A highway chase ensued, ending when police spiked Clarett's tires, sending his vehicle limping into a restaurant parking lot.
Officers said they could not easily subdue Clarett because the bulletproof vest he was wearing thwarted their stun guns. It took several police using pepper spray to get the 6-foot, 245-pounder into handcuffs.
He continued to struggle even as he was taken away, kicking at the doors of the transport vehicle, police said. Officers also secured a cloth mask over Clarett's mouth after they say he spat at them.
Prosecutors said they were concerned that Clarett was driving with the guns only a few blocks from the home of a woman who was set to testify against him the following week in an alleged robbery outside a Columbus bar.
As a freshman, Clarett scored the winning touchdown in the second overtime of the Fiesta Bowl against Miami to lead Ohio State to the 2002 national championship, the school's first since 1968.
But Clarett was suspended for the 2003 season because he was charged with falsifying a police report.
He dropped out of school, then sued unsuccessfully to be included in the 2004 NFL draft. He was a surprise third-round pick in the 2005 draft but was cut by the Denver Broncos during the preseason.
He had planned to play for the Mahoning Valley Hitmen, one of five teams in the Eastern Indoor Football League. The team, based in Youngstown, Ohio, is to begin play in January.