Plaxico Burress to Plead Guilty to a Lesser Charge

The NY Times reported today that Plaxico Burress' attorney is trying to work out a deal that would allow Burress to plead guilty to a lesser crime. This sounds like good news at first, given that the mandatory minimum for the crime that he is charged with carries a mandatory minimum of 3 1/2 years in prison, but in actuality it's still not good news for the NY Giants. By pleading guilty to a lesser charge, Burress is admitting his guilt and will have to face some form of punnishment.

The NY Times is reporting that most people charged with the same crime who have plead guilty to a lesser crime have done some form of jail time. It's possible that Burress could likely face 1/2 of the mandatory minimum of 3 1/2 years. Should Burress get off the hook with only 1 3/4 years in prison, that would make him eligible to be released sometime in the 2010/2011 season; around the time when he turns 33 years old and is considered a "veteran." This means that Burress, who is now 31, could possibly miss the entire 2009 and half of the 2010 season if the judge decides to make him serve only half of the mandatory 3 1/2 year minimum. For a man who is 31, that would NOT be good news.

Former Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Michael Vick was sentenced to exactly 23 months in jail for orchestrating a dog fighting ring in Atlanta. He will get out a little bit early for serving time in jail during his trial. Its hard to compare Burress' situation to Vick's. It's like comparing apples to oranges, but if you consider how little time Vick was sentenced to for the horrible, premeditated animal cruelty charges, it seems to me that it is plausible that Burress may likely walk away with even less than half of the 3 1/2 minimum that his crime carries. My bet is that Burress will get sentenced to 12 months in jail, less time off for good behavior. He'll miss the entire 2009 season, and is back in time for 2010.