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'Diesel' will be on field NFL prospect Collins changes pleas, given probation
Posted: Thursday April 08, 1999 07:24 PM
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Cecil Collins, who dazzled football fans during a brief career at LSU, will be on supervised parole for four years -- but will probably also be in the NFL during that time. Collins on Thursday pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors and two felonies, but will spend four years on supervised probation, rather than in prison, clearing the way to his being signed by an NFL team. "I think this is fair for everyone," said Collins' attorney Rodney Baum. "He has learned from this. Cecil doesn't take anything for granted, now." As part of the plea bargain, Collins changed his innocent pleas to guilty on two counts of simple battery, which are misdemeanors, and two counts of unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling, which are felonies. He could have received up to six months in prison and fines up to $500 on the misdemeanor charges, and up to six years and fines of $1,000 on the felony counts. Instead, Collins was given two years probation on each of the battery charges, to run consecutively, and four years probation on each felony count, to run concurrently but after the battery sentence, making a total of five years jail time if it was served. "I'm satisfied," said assistant district attorney Sue Bernie. "He has five years hanging over his head. I think this is appropriate since he's a first-time offender and the victims and their families are satisfied. He admitted his crime and they have some closure in that." Collins must also be tested for drugs weekly, continue the substance abuse counseling until it's terminated by the court, contribute $2,500 to a battered women's shelter within the next year, abstain from alcohol and drugs, perform 300 hours community service, and not go on the LSU campus for the length of his parole. The victims are still students at LSU and banning Collins from the campus is to protect them, Bernie said. Asked if he could meet the terms of the agreement, Collins said, "Of course," but refused to comment further. Collins is only allowed to leave Louisiana for employment. He is currently living in Memphis, Tenn., and was allowed to remain there. Collins' agent is in Memphis and he's working out in preparation for the NFL draft this month. Collins, 22, nicknamed "The Diesel" for his powerful running style, played in only four games at LSU before breaking his leg. He was kicked off the LSU football team in June 1998 following his arrest on charges of entering a Baton Rouge apartment and fondling a woman. A week later, another woman filed similar charges against Collins. "This was no prank or misunderstanding," Bernie said. "It was a crime. If you enter someone's residence at four in the morning and awaken them by touching them inappropriately, it's no prank." The young women are recovering, but were traumatized for a while, Bernie said. The victims have one year in which they may file civil suits against Collins, Baum said. But he had not been notified on any action as of Thursday. Collins transferred to McNeese State after leaving LSU, but was kicked off that school's football team two games into the season when he failed a mandatory drug test. He spent 28 days in jail and two months in a halfway house before a judge permitted him to move to Dallas, where he began working out with a trainer. "He has been drug tested every week since October and has been cleared on every one," Baum said. "I don't expect Cecil to have any trouble. I don't expect to be back here on anything new with him."
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