SOMERVILLE,
N.J. – Acting New Jersey Attorney General
Ricardo Solano Jr. and Division of Criminal
Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni announced
that former NBA basketball player Jayson Williams
pleaded guilty today to aggravated assault
in the shooting death of limousine driver
Costas “Gus” Christofi.
Williams
pleaded guilty to aggravated assault before
Superior Court Judge Edward M. Coleman, according
to Director Gramiccioni. The state amended
the indictment against Williams, changing
the remaining reckless manslaughter charge
to a charge of aggravated assault by recklessly
causing bodily injury to another with a deadly
weapon.
Williams
faces a mandatory sentence of 18 months in
state prison without possibility of parole
on that aggravated assault charge under New
Jersey’s gun laws. In addition, the
state will recommend under the plea agreement
that he be sentenced to five years in state
prison on the four charges of which he was
convicted at trial in 2004 related to his
attempt to cover up the shooting.
The
sentences will run concurrently. Williams
agreed not to appeal his trial conviction.
Judge Coleman scheduled sentencing for Williams
for Feb. 23.
Deputy
Attorney General Steven Farman took the guilty
plea for the Division of Criminal Justice.
Judge Coleman denied a motion filed last week
by the state to revoke Williams’ bail,
but imposed additional bail conditions. Williams
is free on $250,000 bail. The judge made it
a condition of bail that Williams not consume
any alcohol and that he check in daily with
probation officers. Williams was charged with
drunken driving last week after crashing his
SUV in Manhattan. A judge in New York ordered
Williams to wear an electronic bracelet that
monitors his perspiration to detect if alcohol
is consumed. Judge Coleman ordered that Williams’
attorneys arrange to have authorities in New
York who are monitoring the bracelet alert
authorities in New Jersey if the condition
is violated.
Williams
was convicted at trial of four of the eight
charges in the indictment: tampering with
a witness, tampering with evidence, fabricating
evidence, and hindering apprehension or prosecution.
He was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter,
aggravated assault and possession of a weapon
for an unlawful purpose. The jury did not
reach a verdict on the reckless manslaughter
charge. The Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s
Office handled the trial. The Attorney General’s
Office superseded the case in October at the
prosecutor’s request.
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