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Nu’Keese Richardson, one of a three University of Tennessee football players charged with attempted armed robbery, pleaded guilty Monday to a reduced charge of attempted robbery.
Knox County Criminal Court Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz approved a plea agreement by which Richardson will be placed on probation for three years, during which time he must be a full-time student or employed full time.
Richardson was originally scheduled Monday for a preliminary hearing. Instead he waived his rights and entered a plea to the lesser offense. After the court proceedings were completed, he sat in the courtroom for about a minute with his head in his hands.
“Basically, I’ve learned my lesson about what happens when you make stupid mistakes,” he said later, with his attorney, Bruce Poston, at his side. “I do not want to ever be in a predicament like this again.”
Dismissed from the team because of the incident, he has since enrolled at Hampton (Va.) University. If he completes the terms of his probationary period and does not run afoul of the law again, he can have the conviction expunged from his record.
Richardson, former teammates Mike Edwards and Janzen Jackson and fellow UT student Marie Lynn Montmarquet were charged with attempted armed robbery after three men reported they were the victims of a robbery attempt Nov. 12 at the Pilot convenience store on Cumberland Avenue. The Knoxville Police Department later arrested the suspects, and seized a pellet gun.
All three players were suspended from the team. Richardson and Edwards were later dismissed by coach Lane Kiffin. Jackson was reinstated after the charges against him were dropped. Charges against Montmarquet also were dropped, but she still faces possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia charges.
Knox County District Attorney General Randy Nichols said that a review of the evidence, including surveillance video and taped interviews, failed to show Jackson or Montmarquet had prior knowledge of a robbery attempt.
A preliminary hearing for Edwards is scheduled for Jan. 20.
Jim Balloch may be reached at 865-342-6315.
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Comments » 106
Ironcity writes:
Son, you got off pretty easy. I hope you learned your lesson. Good Luck!
V_O_L_S_GO_VOLS_GO writes:
Sad. At least he's not trying to wiggle his way out of it with some cockamamie story. Make a mistake, face the punishment. Hopefully he'll right his paths after this...
DownTheField writes:
i was crazy to think that today could be committed to publishing positive articles
BigBadVol writes:
Agreed!
luvorange writes:
Hate it... would have much rather seen him be a great player but oh well.
BigBadVol writes:
LMAO!
CB4VOLZ writes:
Extremely fortunate outcome for the young man. Hope he takes advantage of it and turns his life around....Time will tell.
bclay1012 writes:
i don't care about nu'keese news... he isn't a member of our team anymore....
InertGas writes:
Lucky young man. I hope you straighten out your life. Now, get on outta here.
TXVol76 writes:
Hope he turns his life around with this second chance. Now the Vol Nation must stick together until this story dies and the true news happens on the field again!!!
volspaws writes:
Nu'Keese.....same as the Ol'Keese
VOLinCO writes:
Recruiting News-
Looks like we're trying to steal one from bama...
http://blogs.ajc.com/recruiting/2010/...
LCfastball writes:
And their telling us this because ...................
orangeman1 writes:
Give them a break. Lots of people were curious as to what would happen. They are just reporting what we want to know. Most posters on here thought he would be serving prison time, but I guess the legal system was good to the 1st time offender. He screwed up. Now he's accepting the consequences and hopefully making a positive change in his life.
TommyJack writes:
Good report. Thanks KNS.
tnsportsman writes:
Thanks Chester, good article! Man it would be GREAT if we get Sims & Prater, slam dunk!
Richardson, takes this lesson with you man, clean it up and 'have a nice life' bye bye
nocleats writes:
Because w/ the happiness of Willis recommitting and the Euphoria of Tennessee Beating #1 Kansas, they had to try to derail any momentum that may stem from that, if at all possible. JUst wondering how many coaches would have kept him on their team now that he is only facing probation. My guess is quite a few.. Also does anybody think Hampton University is catching hell over this, or will they be revered as the school that offered a 2nd chance, much like was offered to Coker.
Hacksaw57 writes:
He's lucky, alright.
If he/they would have pulled that kind of stunt (sticking a pellet or toy gun in somebody's face) somewhere else where defending yourself and justice is handed out by who you tried to stick up, they would have had their heads blown off by the real thing!
nocleats writes:
" good to a first time offender" !! Go to a local big city court and watch them be easy on a 15th time offender,, The papers kinda freak out when its a celeb or athelete, but if the sports reporter were to walk across the office to the reporters at the city desk, they would be told quickly how little a deal this offense would be in a courtroom with 50+ hearings on the daily docket.
Futurecoach16 writes:
Y'all are WAY too harsh on KNS. They post unbiased, news stories. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but not everything is perfect on Rocky Top all the time, and if y'all think it is, you're dumber than your posts let on. While, in a few more weeks, if that long, this will be completely unimportant, it is news worthy now. I, for one, was interested in what was going to happen with these two.
MS_VOLSFAN writes:
I agree!!!!!!!
bigorange61 writes:
LMAO....good one, Marc.
6MillionDollarPumpkin writes:
Now that is funny!!
slsmithsr#269458 writes:
"Pre-trial Diversion".....remember that. At least he had a lawyer fought for him. I'm glad a life is not totally ruin by such stupidity. I hope he does well in school and becomes a productive citizen.
slsmithsr#269458 writes:
I hope he becomes a productive citizen and makes good of Pre-trail Diversion. At least he had a lawyer working for him....not always the case.
JaneGilbert writes:
I can tell by the smirk on his face and the gangsta hair-doo that this thug will continue being a thug. Betcha Poston wrote his after court statement.
TommyJack writes:
You make waaaay to much sense for many on here.
us43137415#376444 writes:
Wonderful..
Thug Richardson pleads guilty.. There was a criminal intent to do what he did.. he intended to rob those dudes, the criminal nature was there.
But he gets off because (right now) there's nothing on his record, so he enrolls at Hampton, plays football for them, then next year, transfers to USC, Ohio State, Texas, Florida State or Miami (especially the last two).
Won't anybody see the felonious recklessness of what he did in Knoxville that he has now admitted to?
No.. the NFL and the NBA hires thugs to play on their teams anyway.
It's sad that junior thugs-in-waiting see this, and think it's OK.
So very sad.
Ayres_Hall writes:
Huh? The evidence is overwhelming against your statement.
finn writes:
Good luck, Nuke. I hope you are able to reach your full potential and make the right choices. Just look at Coker. Sometimes you need to grow up a little first.
jumby92 writes:
I think Kiffin showed some backbone by sending this thug packing. Pearl also showed some backbone getting rid of Tyler Smith and look how it went last night. Good things come when you do the right thing. I can't believe JP Prince had the numbers of those 4 morons on his shoes. Those guys engaged in stupid behavior and it hurt the team and it was no one's fault but their own. Very selfish on their part!
keepitreal4vols writes:
Just when I was on that top-of-the-world feeling from Kansas win, KNS throws this story at me...AGAIN. Oh Please, just make it go away!
VolinCalif writes:
Good point. That very thing happened in LA, Ca in the 70's at a Lq store. It was a BB pistol and looked like one. But it got the kid killed and the clerk walked. The kid was 17 or 18 don't remember which.
WytheVol writes:
He's only getting off easy for now. He has to walk the straight and narrow 100% for the next three years, regardless of where he transfers to. I agree with giving the guy a second chance. I also agree to not letting him walk away completely cleansed of it. If he does anything over the next three years, he not only will be charged with that crime, but will also be faced with these charges again.
I just hope he has learned from this mistake and will clean his life up. Hampton took in Mr. Coker (if I am not mistaken), and he has a good shot at the NFL... with a clean record since his transfer.
It's not out of the question for people like this to become good, law abiding citizens. Some stupid kids can become great leaders in their adult life from their self-made trials and tribulations. I certainly see your point of view and understand your complaints, but he isn' off scott free yet.
GreerVol22 writes:
Hampton huh....those kids can't even afford a cheesburger...
jmr68ut writes:
Hope he did learn a lesson because he sure got off easy!!!
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Keep your head on straight, youngster.
Good luck down the road.
jsm67vol writes:
Good luck to you Nuke. Make the most of this opportunity you have been given. I will always remember you as the one of two that broke Kiffin's streak of 11 months straight without a single off field incident by a Vol football player. I would much rather have remembered you as the recruit that started the Pahoke HS pipeline to UT.
ProwlinAndGrowlinSmokeyDog writes:
...and we probably will do just exactly that.LOL!!!.In all seriousness, I hope we get this guy!!! WOOOHOOO!! It's strange how Bama wins a NC, but recruits decommit because you would think it would be the other way around(a team wins a NC, then recruits commit).
Go Get 'Em Lane!!!
NeylandWest writes:
Ditto - The "voice" is a total tool
orangeman1 writes:
I have seen the city courts operate, and you are right about how our Justice system punishes criminals. Thats why I was laughing to myself when alot of posters on here said he would serve hard time for this. Probation for 3 years and then it disappears. Yea, thats really hard time. Even if he screws up minorly again, he might serve 30 days and be put back out on probation. Criminals are given many chances before they actually serve any long periods of jail time. I do hope he has learned from this.
roloyo writes:
Nukey, I hope you're truly sorry for what occured, and not just sorry you got caught. I'm glad to see you were given a 2nd chance to accomplish something with your life. Now....get the hell outta here.
GBO
badkarma01 writes:
Not proud of what the kid did but at least he manned up...
martinvol34 writes:
Hopefully he will have the same success as Coker. I really hate this for him and the University. He had promise but agree that we don't need those kinds of cancers.
mtnsvol44 writes:
This scumbag criminal gets no jail time???? Oh, I forgot. He was a highly recruited jock! If it were you or me we would be sitting jail now!!!
BustaRhymes writes:
Who cares? He was dismissed from the team in disgrace! He can fall off the face of the earth as far as this fan's concerned. Hey KNS - did you hear about our basketball team's win? How about a story on how a walk-on's 3 pointer iced the biggest win in school history? Why don't you run a story on a CURRENT student athlete that I actually give a cr@p about?
Pudge writes:
JaneGilbert writes:
I can tell by the smirk on his face and the gangsta hair-doo that this thug will continue being a thug. Betcha Poston wrote his after court statement.
-----------------------
So I guess you consider the other Vols who have dreadlocks to be thugs too???
TommyJack writes:
Doubtful. Most first time offenders get slack.
You would prefer what...he get the needle?
ORANGE5 writes:
Ain't much forgiving around here, especially from behind the computer screen.
nocleats writes:
Again, people, try to understand. I know that these actions by criminals make us mad but here is the truth. It has nothing to do with being a jock, or famous or anything like that. In larger cities it has to do with jail space and criminals who are pulling off far far worse crimes. Yes, worse than attempted armed robbery and possession of weapons and drugs. I had to press charges about 2 years ago on a man who worked for a moving company that helped my family move. He had stolen Checks from my checkbook and also from my mother in laws estate. When We got to court I found out this man had 37 previous convictions. 37 !. He pleaded out and got time served plus 11 29 probation.. He was out on the street before I had paid for parking. Folks, the justice system lets people walk, and we wonder why criminals and thugs have no respect or fear of the law. Think about it 37 convictions and out. No telling how many more offenses as a juvenile as that was wiped clean when he was 18. It has nothing to do with being a jock. Not enough room in prison and very very overburdened courts and D.A.s
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