Stallworth buys down drunken manslaughter sentence

Cleveland wide receiver Donte Stallworth agreed to a plea bargain that will require him to spend 30 days in jail after killing a man while driving drunk in his car. With time served, according to the New York Times, he’ll serve 24 more.

Unreal.

Michael McCann, legal analyst for Sports Illustrated, visited the Dan Patrick Show Wednesday to discuss the sentence. It appears the agreement became possible when the family agreed to a financial settlement with Stallworth, he told listeners.

So despite killing someone, Stallworth was able to buy himself a lesser prison sentence. That doesn’t speak well of a legal system that is supposed to put everyone on equal footing regardless of their place in society.

Stallworth will be out of prison in time for training camp, if his current team in Cleveland or any other team out there decides they are willing to risk the public relations hit that employing him would hopefully entail.

The comparison has already been made several times in other places. Stallworth got a year-and-a-half less than Michael Vick did for killing dogs and could end up with several years less than Plaxico Burress, who came closer to killing himself than anyone else.

At least one organization is angry. Mothers Against Drunk Driving indicated that it is deeply upset with the sentence and that, if the sentence required a donation to MADD that the organization would decline the money. MADD indicated that it would be watching how NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell deals with the on-field aspect of this case.

They’re not alone. Stallworth might not be behind bars when the 2009 NFL season starts. But that doesn’t mean he should be on the field. Hopefully the commissioner acts accordingly.