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Maurice Clarett pleads guilty to lesser charge
Maurice Clarett and his mother, Michelle, listen as a judge tells him to "give back to a community that has given so much to you."
Suspended Ohio State tailback Maurice Clarett, accused of lying on a police report, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a lesser charge that carries no jail time.
The charge of failure to aid a law enforcement officer does not appear on a criminal record, and Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Mark S. Froehlich ordered Clarett to pay the maximum fine of $100.
Clarett, who helped Ohio State win the national championship in 2002, was accused of filing a campus police report that exaggerated the value of items stolen from a dealership car he borrowed in April. Had he been convicted of the original falsification charge, he could have faced a penalty ranging from probation to six months in jail and up to a $1,000 fine.
Froehlich told Clarett he hoped the experience would make him a better person.
"You are in fact a role model," he said. "Many people in this community look up to you. Don't let them down, but most importantly don't let yourself down. Try to give back to a community that has given so much to you."
Clarett's comments were limited to yes and no answers to the judge's questions. Clarett's mother held her hand on his back as he stood before the judge, and Clarett and his lawyers left the courtroom without commenting.
"I will definitely consider the judge's advice to me whenever I make decisions that not only affect me, but also the kids who look up to me, family friends and teammates," Clarett said in a statement.
"I look forward to shifting all of my attention back to my studies and the team at the Ohio State University."
Ohio State suspended Clarett from the football team, but not from school, for accepting improper benefits from a family friend and for lying about it to investigators.
Clarett's deal with city prosecutors enabled him to avoid a hearing scheduled Wednesday to decide whether statements he made to NCAA investigators should be admissible as evidence in the case.
City Prosecutor Stephen McIntosh said he was willing to accept the plea deal because the case was not worth the time and expense of bringing in a witness from out of state. Another witness, former campus police chief Ron Michalec, now works in the Cleveland suburb of Pepper Pike.
Clarett's lawyer, Percy Squire, met with McIntosh before the scheduled hearing.
Attorneys still will pursue a request that the U.S. Department of Education sanction the university for giving information from the NCAA interviews to campus police, who passed it on to prosecutors, said Lloyd Pierre-Louis, Squire's partner.
The attorneys had argued the information should have been kept private as a federally protected "student educational record." McIntosh had said the federal rules didn't apply because the information came from the NCAA and not Ohio State.
Clarett's attorneys last week dismissed a case in Franklin County Common Pleas Court seeking sworn statements from university officials regarding the investigation.
In a separate case, Clarett is suing the NFL for early entry into the draft. Clarett is ineligible for the draft until 2005 under current NFL rules.
Messages seeking comment were left Wednesday with Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger and spokesman Steve Snapp.
Source: AP