Cleveland Browns wide receiver (or provisional member; however you'd like to look at it) Donte Stallworth pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter charges. His punishment? I think Deadspin.com sums it up pretty well...
Stallworth did appear in court today and has been sentenced to 30 days in jail, which is slightly less than 15 years. He will also serve two years house arrest, 1,000 hours of community service and will be on probation for eight additional years. In addition, he already reached a financial settlement with the family of the victim, Mario Reyes, and will avoid a civil lawsuit. That's some nice lawyering, boys.
According to the Miami Herald, Stallworth was immediately taken into custody and will serve his time at Miami-Dade County jail.
I'm sure a lot of people are very surprised by the simple "slap on the wrist" Stallworth has received. Now that the legal proceedings are pretty much over, we should be hearing from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in the future to see what disciplinary action the league will take. In my mind, I envision the Browns releasing Stallworth before the start of the season. If his suspension is not too lengthy though, who knows -- Stallworth might be wearing a Browns uniform after all this season.
UPDATE (1:31 PM): According to Maria Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal...
An NFL source said commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to discipline Browns receiver Donte' Stallworth before the start of training camp after he pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter Tuesday.
Hopefully that league source wasn't me (see earlier in post). Only kidding. Ridenour also cites a case from 1998:
Rams defensive end Leonard Little pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 1998 when his blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit during an accident that killed the driver of the other vehicle. Leonard was suspended for eight games.