Texas Heisman Hopeful Gets Jail Time AUSTIN, Texas - Texas senior running back Cedric Benson was sentenced to eight days in jail after pleading no contest Friday to misdemeanor criminal trespassing for forcing his way into an apartment in 2003. But due to crowding at the jail and credit for good behavior, he will likely only spend a fraction of that time - if any - behind bars. "We don't have beds available," said Travis County sheriff's spokesman Roger Wade. Police said Benson forced his way into an apartment last October to search for a stolen television. The charge was a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. Travis County Judge Elizabeth Earle also ordered Benson to pay a $1,000 fine and up to $600 in restitution for the apartment's damaged door and court costs, said Benson's attorney, Brian Carney. Benson, who was allowed to serve his jail time on weekends, will be with the Longhorns when the team reports to training camp on Monday. Benson's eight-day sentence was cut in half for good behavior, Wade said. Benson was also given credit for being in jail the day he was arrested and an additional day for checking in Friday and being released due to jail crowding. If he checks in Saturday and there is a community service project available, he'll be credited for two days and finish his sentence. If there is not a community project, he can complete his time on Sunday, Wade said. "He's not being given any preferential treatment," Wade said. Benson should finish his jail term before the season opener Sept. 4 against North Texas. He served a one-game suspension after his arrest last season. "I understand that I made a mistake and I'm taking responsibility for my actions in accepting my punishment," Benson said in a statement released by the school. Carney said Benson accepted the jail time rather than drag out his case - and potential publicity - through a long probation period during the coming season. Prosecutors offered Benson a conviction with probation for a year with community service, anger management counseling and similar fines. "I had some options in how it was handled, but I think what I accepted will have the least effect on my teammates, the coaches and everyone at UT. I didn't want this to drag on through the season," Benson said. "Even though it's more difficult on me by taking care of it now, it's in the best interest of my team in the long run." Coach Mack Brown said Benson's plea brings "closure to an issue we dealt with last fall with Cedric. I know he's glad to have this behind him so he can move on." A likely Heisman Trophy contender this season, Benson has been one of the most prolific ball carriers in Texas history with 3,706 yards rushing and 45 touchdowns. Benson was originally accused of entering the apartment with three other men but Carney said no one else has been charged in the case. link
It seems strange to me that Mack is writing this off so easy this is a big deal even though they knew it was coming. I wonder if Benson has a huge year if it will cost him the Heisman?
From what I've heard on the local news in Austin, the term was cut to four days due to "good behavior," and he already has two days credit for being booked and what not. They are reporting that he'll finish out the sentence with community service this weekend. That's what I heard on the Channel 8 news in Austin.
Given our easy schedule, Cedric will rush for at least 1500 yards at 20+ TDs if he stays healthy. Just look at the patsies on our schedule: North Texas Rice Baylor Missouri (poor D, good O) Kansas Texas A&M He'll probably average around ~150 yards in those games. He'll probably break out against either Colorado or Okie St. Of course, OU will shut him down, as will Arkansas. Last year, Ced benefitted largely from sharing the backfield with Vince. Having Vince out there gives us two legitimate running threats. Hopefully Albert Hardy will see more PT next year, and we'll have another guy out there who can run the ball. Also, expect to see Selvin Young in 3rd down situations. Selvin is a nice change of pace from Benson, and is finally healthy after a disappointing sophomore season. Former Pflugerville standout, Erik Hardemann is waiting in the wings as well, and will compete with Selvin for the starting job in '05.
I'm not sure I'd call North Texas a patsy, especially on defense. They shut us down a couple of years ago in the second half (or was that last year?).
Ugghhh. I remember that game. We scored 27 points in the 1st half, and UNT completely shut down Greg Davis' conservative attack in the 2nd half. I participated whole-heartedly in the student section booing him that day. The UNT D-line was consistenly beating our O-line off the snap, and stuffing Ced in the backfield. Hopefully this is the year that our O-line finally steps it up. I haven't seen good O-line play at Texas since my freshman year, 1998.
Yeah, if you were a superstar athlete. Why are people acting surprised? Is Ced the first athlete to get preferential treatment because of his talent? No. Will he be the last? No. Move on.
Absolutely not true-- lenient legal treatment is not limited strictly to superstar athletes. I guarantee I could afford an attorney that would be able to use my socioeconomic background and prior criminal record (two minor traffic tickets, no arrests) to get me down to time served plus good behavior.
Longhorns breaking the rules again. Big shock, indeed. They run a shady, shady program in Austin. How do people cheer for these low-lifes??
Really? That's good to know. How did you know this? If you're in front of a judge do they usually tell you that this is true, or do you just have to be in the know?
