NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor avoided jail on Thursday by pleading guilty to two misdemeanor charges stemming from a May arrest on rape and prostitution charges. The former New York Giants great will serve six years probation as part of the agreement, which saw him plead guilty to sexual misconduct and patronizing a prostitute. He will have to register as a sex offender. In court, Taylor admitted to having sex with a prostitute who ended up being a 16-year-old runaway. "She told me she was 19," he said. Ignorance of a victim's age isn't a defense in a third-degree rape case. Taylor had previously rejected an offer that would have given him six months in jail and 10 years probation. With his trial weeks away, he took a lesser deal that will spare him any time in prison. Taylor decided pleading was in everyone’s best interest, said his attorney, Arthur Aidala.
It's a victory for the former linebacker, although a hollow one if he truly believed in his innocence. After years of battling drug and alcohol abuse, Taylor had been rehabilitating his public image prior to the arrest. He competed on "Dancing With the Stars" in 2009 and was a spokesman for NutriSystem. The diet company dropped him after his latest brush with the law. Former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Harry Carson was in court supporting Taylor on Thursday. sports.yahoo.com
Sadly too many former athletes turn out this way. Business managers and agents should help to educate them so they can make it in real society, because as star athletes they lived in a different world where rules never applied to them as long as thier team was winning and selling tickets. When they leave the field the real world is hard on them especially after they have blown their money and or agents and friends have stolen it. 70% of former NBA players will go broke withing 5 years of retiring from basketball and all too often athletes in other sports run into the same fate.