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The criminal case against suspended Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett may be moving closer to a resolution.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Saturday that Clarett is willing to plead guilty to a reduced charge, rather than fight the current charge in court or continue the push to have the case dismissed.
Clarett's attorney, Percy Squire, told the paper his client is willing to plead to a minor misdemeanor charge, which would carry a maximum penalty of $100 and no jail time.
Clarett is currently charged with a first-degree misdemeanor for filing a false police report. If found guilty, Clarett would face a maximum penalty of six months in prison and $1,000 fine.
Squire told the paper the minor misdemeanor charge is much like "receiving a parking ticket" and would not appear on his client's criminal record.
"If they would offer him a minor misdemeanor, I would take it," Squire told the Plain Dealer by telephone from his office in Columbus.
A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in Franklin County Municipal Court.
Prosecutors declined to say if a guilty plea to the lesser charge would be accepted, but told the paper that Squire's "willingness to resolve the case" has led to several recent discussions with Clarett's defense team.
"We are, I believe, close to working something out," McIntosh told the paper.
Clarett is accused of filing a campus police report that exaggerated the value of items stolen from a dealership car he borrowed in April.
He told police the stolen property was worth $6,165, but in a subsequent investigation by Ohio State and the NCAA, Clarett said he had exaggerated the amount.
In November, Clarett's lawyers asked that the charges be thrown out, saying there is no independent evidence Clarett inflated the value of the stolen items.
"No one actually knows the actual value of the items that were stolen," Lloyd Pierre-Louis, another of Clarett's lawyers, told the Associated Press at the time. "They were never recovered."
Clarett's lawyers have also requested that prosecutors be barred from using Clarett's statements recorded during the NCAA's independent investigation -- statements that led to the filing of the current criminal charges.
Clarett was suspended for his sophomore season for NCAA violations of accepting money from a family friend and lying about it to investigators.
Source: espn.com
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Saturday that Clarett is willing to plead guilty to a reduced charge, rather than fight the current charge in court or continue the push to have the case dismissed.
Clarett's attorney, Percy Squire, told the paper his client is willing to plead to a minor misdemeanor charge, which would carry a maximum penalty of $100 and no jail time.
Clarett is currently charged with a first-degree misdemeanor for filing a false police report. If found guilty, Clarett would face a maximum penalty of six months in prison and $1,000 fine.
Squire told the paper the minor misdemeanor charge is much like "receiving a parking ticket" and would not appear on his client's criminal record.
"If they would offer him a minor misdemeanor, I would take it," Squire told the Plain Dealer by telephone from his office in Columbus.
A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in Franklin County Municipal Court.
Prosecutors declined to say if a guilty plea to the lesser charge would be accepted, but told the paper that Squire's "willingness to resolve the case" has led to several recent discussions with Clarett's defense team.
"We are, I believe, close to working something out," McIntosh told the paper.
Clarett is accused of filing a campus police report that exaggerated the value of items stolen from a dealership car he borrowed in April.
He told police the stolen property was worth $6,165, but in a subsequent investigation by Ohio State and the NCAA, Clarett said he had exaggerated the amount.
In November, Clarett's lawyers asked that the charges be thrown out, saying there is no independent evidence Clarett inflated the value of the stolen items.
"No one actually knows the actual value of the items that were stolen," Lloyd Pierre-Louis, another of Clarett's lawyers, told the Associated Press at the time. "They were never recovered."
Clarett's lawyers have also requested that prosecutors be barred from using Clarett's statements recorded during the NCAA's independent investigation -- statements that led to the filing of the current criminal charges.
Clarett was suspended for his sophomore season for NCAA violations of accepting money from a family friend and lying about it to investigators.
Source: espn.com