Donte Stallworth sentenced, but was justice served?

On Tuesday an agreement was reached in Donte Stallworth's drunk driving incident. Stallworth was arrested after he struck and killed a pedestrian with his car in Miami on March 14th. The accident occurred at 7:20am as Stallworth was heading home after a night of drinking at a trendy Miami Beach club. The victim was just finishing his shift at work and was crossing the street to catch his bus when Stallworth struck and killed him with his car. When police arrived Stallworth submitted to a roadside sobriety test and blew a .126, well above Florida's .08 legal limit.

Yesterday a plea agreement was reached in the case that will see Stallworth serve 24 days in jail followed by two years of house arrest, eight years of probation, 1,000 hours of community service, and have a lifetime suspension of his driving privileges. Stallworth also reached a financial settlement with the victims family, the details of which remain confidential. If Stallworth's case had gone to trial, a conviction could have resulted in a 15 year prison sentence for Stallworth. The victim's family however, in the interest of foregoing the pain and agony of a trial, got behind the plea agreement to get the issue settled.

Many people are left scratching their heads at the relative ease that was taken on Stallworth in this case. Certainly many see this situation as yet another athlete getting away with a crime that would have cost a regular joe their freedom. After all, Stallworth took the life of another human being as a direct result of his actions, so why does he get off so lightly? Unfortunately this was a case that was not going to be easily put to rest. Make no mistake, Stallworth is guilty at the least of poor judgement that led to the death of another human being. Stallworth certainly looks as guilty as guilty gets, he was drunk at 7:30 in the morning and behind the wheel of a car. Witness' at the scene however report that the victim darted across the street, not in a crosswalk, in an attempt to catch his bus. Stallworth didn't simply run down someone in a crosswalk while paying no attention. This is a situation that any individual could find themselves in on any given day. Would Stallworth have struck and killed the victim if he were completely sober? No one can know that for sure.

Stallworth will pay in the end. He is left to live the rest of his life knowing that his actions resulted in the death of another human being. While no amount of money can replace a human life, Stallworth has agreed to a settlement with the victims family. The odds are pretty high that Stallworth won't see much, if any, playing time this season either. Leonard Little of the St. Louis Rams served an eight game suspension in 1999 after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter after he struck and killed a woman while driving drunk in 1998. That was a much kinder and gentler NFL however, Roger Goodell is not likely to be as kind to Stallworth.

Stallworth, unlike so many others, faced all of this like a man. He did not flee the scene of the accident, in fact he made the call to 911. Stallworth willing submitted to roadside sobriety tests, and has done what he can to try and make right what he has done wrong. While he won't serve the 15 years in prison many would have preferred, he has been punished.