Plaxico Burress Agrees to Two Years in Weapons Case


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Ex-NFL Player Plaxico Burress Agrees to Two Years in Weapons Case

Thursday, August 20, 2009

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March 31: Plaxico Burress, center, leaves the criminal courts building with his wife, Tiffany, second from right, and his lawyer Benjamin Brafman, right. A gun possession case against Burress has been adjourned until June 15. Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg with an unlicensed gun at a n

March 31: Plaxico Burress, center, leaves the criminal courts building with his wife, Tiffany, second from right, and his lawyer Benjamin Brafman, right. A gun possession case against Burress has been adjourned until June 15. Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg with an unlicensed gun at a n



NEW YORK — Former New York Giant 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.

The ex-wide receiver 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 3 1/2 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.

Click here for photos.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Dwyer said it is standard policy to request a two-year sentence as part of a plea bargain on such serious charges. Sentencing was set for Sept. 22.

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.

The football star and former teammate Antonio Pierce were at the Latin Quarter nightclub in late November when a gun tucked into Burress' waistband slipped down his leg and fired, shooting him in the right thigh. The bullet narrowly missed a nightclub security guard who was standing inches away, prosecutors said, lodged in the floor and was recovered by a bartender.
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The gun was not licensed in New York or in New Jersey, where Burress lived, prosecutors said. His license to carry a concealed weapon in the state of Florida had expired in May 2008.

Prosecutors said Pierce drove Burress to a hospital, then took the gun to his own home in New Jersey where it was later delivered to Burress' home.

Pierce was not indicted. The grand jury also did not indict the nightclub security guard who carried the gun to Pierce's car or the hospital staff members who failed to notify police that Burress had been shot.

Burress, who caught the winning touchdown for the Giants over the New England Patriots in the final minute of the 2008 Super Bowl, also could face disciplinary action by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

The Giants released Burress in April and he has yet to sign with another team.

Click here for more on this story from MyFOXNY.com.
 

that's funny. 2 yrs. for shooting yourself. dante stallworth got a slap on the wrist for killing someone while driving drunk. what a wonderful justice system we have here.
 
that's funny. 2 yrs. for shooting yourself. dante stallworth got a slap on the wrist for killing someone while driving drunk. what a wonderful justice system we have here.

That's good ole dipsh*t New York laws for you!! They prosecute someone that's never been guilty of crime for carrying a gun. Then slam them with the maximum sentence! Plax had a negligent discharge in a night club for which he should be held liable. Luckily nobody else was hurt! Now he will serve two years and lose his constitutional right to ever own a firearm! Extreme?? YES!!
 
+1

that's funny. 2 yrs. for shooting yourself. dante stallworth got a slap on the wrist for killing someone while driving drunk. what a wonderful justice system we have here.

This raises an excellent point, in that our society's overall view and value of life has erroded almost proportionately as has the "common" misconception of gun ownership.

Burresss is in no way a poster child for safe gun handling. Maybe he and that former DEA agent with a hole in his foot can get together to make some PSA's in a couple years, but you're right - kill someone with a car, or even a few people with a car while texting, and that's "unfortunate." Drunk driving deaths are far more frequent, and equally "unfortunate."

Bring a gun into the picture, and wow - things sure change in a hurry. I'm glad no one else was hurt or screwed over by "the machine."
 
Exactly what I was thinking. But let's not forget that Plaxico committed his crime in PRNYC, which has the rabid anti Michael Bloomberg as its mayor. Even rich people who violate firearms laws there are typically punished harshly.

that's funny. 2 yrs. for shooting yourself. dante stallworth got a slap on the wrist for killing someone while driving drunk. what a wonderful justice system we have here.
 

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