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Jayson Williams
- Jayson Williams
- Professional Basketball Player
- February 2002
- Reckless Manslaughter
- Five Years in prison
The arrest of Jayson Williams:
He scored nearly 3500 points in his nine year career in the National Basketball Association, playing for the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Nets.
But the shooting that Jayson Williams is best remembered for wasn't on the basketball court, but rather for the shooting death of a limousine driver. Williams' basketball days had ended after he broke his right leg in a collision with a teammate. He was in the first year of a six year, $90 million contact when he was hurt and the injury forced his retirement from the NBA.
Jayson had a brush with the law in 1992, when he was accused of breaking a beer mug over another guy's head in a Chicago saloon. But the big stuff happened in February, 2002 when his limo driver, Costas "Gus" Christofi…
…was shot to death at Williams New Jersey estate…
Williams was playing with a shotgun when it went off and blasted the driver.
Acquitted of the more serious charges against him, the jury deadlocked on a charge of reckless manslaughter. Williams was convicted of four counts of trying to cover up the shooting. A retrial on the reckless manslaughter charge was permitted but was repeatedly delayed.
Finally, in January 2010, Williams pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was sentenced to five years in prison, with possible parole after 18 months.
A one year sentence for driving while intoxicated in 2010 was tacked on.
…and off the local basketball star went to prison, serving from February 2010. He was moved to New York City's Riker's Island prison in April 2011, where he served eight additional months and was released in April 2012.