The NDSU Bison Football team proved once again that winning is more important than doing the right thing. Checking the newspapers today we find out that 10 Bison football players had their day in court today and once again the head football coach goes on record to say that none his players will miss any games. Marvelous!
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Ten North Dakota State University football players pleaded guilty Tuesday to misdemeanor election fraud and were sentenced to community service for faking signatures on proposed ballot measure petitions that they were hired to collect.
Among the players on the nation's top-ranked Football Championship Subdivision team who pleaded guilty Tuesday were starters Samuel Ojuri, Joshua Colville, Marcus Williams and Brendin Pierre. Players Lucas Albers, Aireal Boyd, Demitrius Gray Bryan Shepherd, Antonio Rogers, and Charles Smith III also pleaded guilty.
Each of the players was ordered to serve 360 days of unsupervised probation, complete 50 hours of community service and pay $325 in fees. All of the sentences were deferred, meaning the crime will be expunged from a player's record if he completes the conditions of his sentence.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to the sentences for eight of the 10 players. The state had recommended 1-year suspended sentences for Ojuri and Williams because of prior misdemeanors.
The players declined to comment after the hearing. Quick deferred questions to NDSU.
Bison head coach Craig Bohl has said the team might discipline the players but won't suspend them. The school said he planned to issue a statement later Tuesday.
I have talked to quite a few UND fans that think the way that NDSU is handling this situation is a joke – we have players at UND getting suspended for Minor in Consumption which is a class B misdemeanor and then at NDSU we have football players pleading guilty to class A misdemeanors and they aren’t getting suspended. I think this send a poor message to the fans and especially to the young kids that look up to them. In fact, the NDSU Athletic Director Gene Taylor and the head football coach Craig Bohl are running deflections for their players.
