Former NBA star athlete Jayson Williams was sentenced on Tuesday, February 23, 2010, to five years in prison for assault and covering up the events that led to the shooting death of his limousine driver in 2002. He will be eligible for parole in 18 months.
Williams admitted that he gave a group of his friends, and a hired limo driver, a tour of his house and a look at a gun collection in his bedroom. While showing them a double-barreled 12-gauge shotgun, the loaded weapon discharged, striking Costas “Gus” Christofi in the chest. The athlete subsequently placed the gun in the dead limo drivers hands and instructed his friends to lie about what happened.
The eight-year saga ended with the 42-year-old former New Jersey Nets player tearfully apologizing to the family of his victim before sentencing. He paid the family $2 million in 2003 to settle a wrongful death lawsuit.
Williams has had a number of personal setbacks in the past few years. His wife filed for divorce last year, and police used a stun gun on him in April 2009 after a girlfriend phoned police to say that her boyfriend was suicidal. His latest trouble came on January 5, 2010, when he was arrested for DUI after an early morning accident in Manhattan.
Williams was sentenced and then led away in handcuffs – see both videos below: