Plaxico Burress Gets Two Year Prison Sentence

NFL News - August 20th, 2009 - Written by Bruce

Former New York Giants' wide receiver Plaxico Burress accepted a plea bargain on Thursday which will send him to prison for two years. As part of the plea bargain, Burress will also get two years of supervised release following his prison sentence. Burress pled guilty to one count of attempted criminal possession of a weapon, which is a lesser charge than he originally faced. Nine months ago Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh in a crowded Manhattan nightclub which led to these charges. The gun was a .40-caliber Glock which was not registered in the state of New York. Earlier this month, Burress was indicted on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment. Had he not accepted the plea agreement, Burress faced a minimum three and a half years in prison if convicted at trial. His two year prison sentence is set to begin on September 22nd.

Plaxico Burress is not far removed from being hailed as a Super Bowl hero. In the 2008 Super Bowl, Burress caught the game-winning touchdown for the Giants in a last minute win over the New England Patriots. The victory prevented a perfect 19-0 season for the Patriots, which would have been an NFL record. Burress caught a touchdown pass in the final minute of the game from quarterback Eli Manning, a play that will likely go down in Super Bowl lore. This past April the New York Giants released the troubled wide receiver after numerous infractions with the team. Had he avoided prison time, Burress would have faced an eight game suspension from the NFL if he tried to return to the league this year.

The two year prison sentence means that the 32 year old Plaxico Burress will likely miss the 2009 and 2010 NFL seasons. He will be 34 years old by the time he is expected to be available to return to league. This will mean that Burress will not have caught a pass for more about three years when he tries to make his return. With his time away from the game and his legal troubles, it could be difficult for Burress to land another job with an NFL team. It was reported by ESPN that Burress met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell last week. The New York Giants suspended Burress for the team's final four games last season before releasing him this April.

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