Money talks.
You've just received a $4.5 million bonus from work. Not bad, right? Here's how the ensuing night of celebration pans out:
(4 p.m.) Celebratory drinks by the hotel pool.
(Midnight - 4 a.m.) Go to a Miami Beach nightclub. Meet a friend – who happens to be running a $3,000 tab – for drinks. Send a $375-bottle of Patron Silver to said friend's table and order five shots of tequila for another $90.
(4 a.m.) Leave the club and head back to the hotel for a power nap.
(7 a.m.) Wake up hungry. Jump into a 2005 Bentley and drive to breakfast.
(7:15 a.m.) Strike and kill a 59-year old pedestrian who is just leaving his construction job.
For Donte Stallworth, these were the events that transpired between March 13 and March 14, 2009.
Monday was bittersweet for the wide receiver, whose one-year suspension from the NFL ended along with his tenure on the Cleveland Browns. The organization terminated his contract, making him an unrestricted free agent.
It's been almost a year since the incident took place and there are still so many astonishing aspects to the story.
First of all, it is difficult to fathom making $4.5 million in one day, much less killing some body the following morning. DUI manslaughters in Florida are punishable up to 15 years in prison, but thanks to most – if not all – of his healthy bonus, Stallworth was able to reach a plea bargain with the deceased's family and was sentenced to just 30 days in prison.
That's right, days.
And he didn't even serve the full sentence.
Stallworth was given a one-day credit for the time he spent in jail on April 2, 2009, when he was arrested. Thanks to a state statute, Stallworth was only in jail for 24 days because in Florida, you're credited five days when given a 30 day-sentence.
I thought ‘Get out of Jail Free' cards only existed in Monopoly.
It is remarkable how a few drinks can change somebody's fortune so drastically, but what's more astounding is that Stallworth claims – and the court believes – that he only had 'a few drinks.'
Really?
Former teammate Braylon Edwards admitted that he had drinks with Stallworth throughout the day and into the evening. ESPN reported that Edwards bought a $1,500 bottle of Perrier-Jouet Rose and spent $695 on Grey Goose. Isn't it plausible that Stallworth had enough drinks that he felt obligated to send a near $400-bottle of liquor over to his teammate's table?
Would a six-foot, 200-pound football player's BAC really reach .126 – .046 above the legal limit – three hours after he's been drinking if he only had a few shots?
It's also interesting how little attention was paid to the fact that marijuana was in his bloodstream. Whether he smoked that night, got the munchies and wanted to drive to breakfast, or lit up some time in the months before, he not only admittedly drove while intoxicated, but he was also using drugs.
The kicker here lies in all of the sympathy that this guy received after the crash. People were actually impressed that he handled the situation like a man and called 911.
Sure, he was driving wasted, probably smoked weed that night, was doing 50-mph in a 40-zone, and killed an innocent pedestrian, but doesn't it count for anything that he stuck around and took the blame for his actions? Can't we cut this guy some slack? He was intoxicated and still had the presence of mind to know that he hit some one and he turned himself in.
What a guy.
Stallworth killed someone and was reinstated back into the NFL less than a year later all because he was able to pay off the family of the deceased.
And they say money can't buy everything.
E-mail: andrew.wiktor@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
