Man pleads guilty in UK player's '94 death

[youknowme]

http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/10320135

Man convicted of player's murder pleads guilty to manslaughter before retrial

 

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- A man charged with fatally shooting a Kentucky player as he celebrated his 21st birthday on a porch near campus pleaded guilty to manslaughter Monday.

 

 

 

In the plea agreement, Shane Ragland was sentenced to time served -- eight years in prison and 14 months of house arrest -- for the 1994 shooting of Trent DiGiuro.

 

Ragland was accused of targeting DiGiuro in revenge for keeping him out of a fraternity. He was convicted of murder in 2002 and sentenced to 30 years in prison, but he won a new trial after the state Supreme Court agreed that the prosecutor had made an inappropriate comment during trial and used inadmissible evidence concerning a bullet.

[Booge]

Not harsh enough IMO...but at least the family finally has closure.

[pldgreatno2]

WOW! Vick gets involved with dogfighting, this guy kills another man and finally admits to it after 13yrs. The guy gets time served and Vick gets time. Sure, that's definately equality.

[gchs_uk9]

WOW! Vick gets involved with dogfighting, this guy kills another man and finally admits to it after 13yrs. The guy gets time served and Vick gets time. Sure, that's definately equality.

 

I agree with you completely. I don't understand why Ragland didn't have to go back to jail. Doesn't make sense.

[UKPat02]

This just goes to show that $$$ can buy freedom.

[pigman]

Your telling me the Raglands have more money than Vick.

[Wireman]

Is he really guilty or did he admit a lie just to accept a plea bargain and not take a chance of being wrongly convicted? I don't know a whole lot about the story, but he and his lawyer contend that he is innocent even though he said he was guilty.

[CoachBuckett]

I agree with you completely. I don't understand why Ragland didn't have to go back to jail. Doesn't make sense.

 

Prosecutions case fell apart. two key witness where not going to testify. Had no choice but to offer a deal. They would have lost if went to trial.:madman:

[DADDY CAT]

So, a premeditated murder gets you 8 years and 14 months of free time at home????? No wonder society is going straight to crap. Something that screams for a little time in the chair gets you roughly 9 years. C'mon, if you're willing to kill over something as trivial as not getting into a fraternity, do you really need to be on the streets??? What if someone does something really stupid like bumping into his car or, GOD forbid, messes up his order at the local Burger King? How about a civil suit??? Has one been filed??/ If he's admitted to it, let the other family get their hands on a little of the money that kept this low life peice of human feces out of eternity!

[cvillecat]

Prosecutions case fell apart. two key witness where not going to testify. Had no choice but to offer a deal. They would have lost if went to trial.:madman:

I heard one lawyer state that one reason for the plea was to protect one witness who would testify but had received death threats and both parties agreed to a plea to ensure the safety of the witness.

IMO Ragland should never see daylight again except through a small window from his cell.

[HHSDad]

"We've been fighting this for 13 years," DiGiuro's father, Mike DiGiuro of Goshen, said after the plea was entered in Fayette Circuit Court. "It's time for this to be over. We didn't get near what we wanted, but we got an admission of guilt."

 

If your key witness is unwilling to testify, sometimes you have to take what you can get.

[BucksFan]

I disagree with the punishment. Now lets see if a civil suit happens?

[UKPat02]

 

If your key witness is unwilling to testify, sometimes you have to take what you can get.

 

The reason one witness didn't testify is in fear for her life. I believe she was bullied into not testifying. If I remember correctly, one witness got an admission from Ragland while wired by police. Apparently that's not enough to put people away...

[Booge]

The reason one witness didn't testify is in fear for her life. I believe she was bullied into not testifying. If I remember correctly, one witness got an admission from Ragland while wired by police. Apparently that's not enough to put people away...

 

He told an ex-girlfriend that he did it...that's what got the case opened the first time. Then police wired the girl and got him on tape. Then police found the murder weapon at his house or his dad's, don't remember which, and the bullet taken from the victim matched the bullets found at his home (or dad's.)

 

It's pretty clear he did it...

[oldrambler]

IMO Ragland should never see daylight again except through a small window from his cell.

:thumb: :thumb: I 100% agree, trash is trash and should be taken to the dump an disposed of. :irked: