It’s good to know that being rich, famous and part of the National Football League doesn’t protect you from the consequences of your crimes. Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, now with the Philadelphia Eagles, served 19 months for his role in a dogfighting ring. New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who accidentally shot himself with an unlicensed handgun in a New York nightclub, was sentenced to 2 years in prison on a weapons charge.
But then there is Donte Stallworth. All Stallworth did was get behind the wheel with a blood alcohol level of .126, well above the Florida limit of .08, and then run over a pedestrian, who died of his injuries. For that, the Cleveland Browns wide receiver served 24 days in jail.
It’s hard to make these outcomes balance on the scales of justice. Vick didn’t kill any human beings. Burress endangered other people but hurt only himself. So how is it they got much tougher penalties than Stallworth, who caused 59-year-old Mario Reyes’ death after an evening spent enjoying tequila and marijuana?
The (modestly) good news is that Stallworth faces additional punishment — two years of house arrest and eight years of probation. He’ll have to do 1,000 hours of community service. He also reached an undisclosed financial settlement with the family of the victim.
But none of that will stop him from playing football again. And it doesn’t look very tough compared to the 15 years he could have gotten for DUI manslaughter — or compared to the prison time endured by Vick and Burress.
The local prosecutor rejects the charge that she let him off easy. She notes that Stallworth had a clean record and cooperated with authorities.
Another big reason for the light sentence, said Katherine Fernandez Rundle, was the preference of the victim’s family. “Had the family been out for blood and wanted [Stallworth] to go to prison for 15 years, the state would have given that great weight,” said a local defense lawyer.
Maybe that was Vick’s mistake — his victims couldn’t ask for leniency. And Burress had no victim to speak up for him.
While the desires of the victim’s family deserve due consideration, they shouldn’t be primary. When he started his car that night, Stallworth created a danger to everyone else on the road. His sentence should reflect not only society’s justifiable outrage at his unconscionable behavior, but serve as a deterrent to others who might consider driving drunk.
It’s worth remembering that we call it our system of justice because that’s what it is supposed to provide.
With Vick and Burress, it can claim to have succeeded. Stallworth? Not by a long shot.
