Thursday, April 01, 1999
Former UK player admits responsibility in truck deaths
Watts asks to begin jail time immediately
BY TIM WHITMIRE
The Associated Press
SOMERSET, Ky. — Volunteering to go to jail immediately, former Kentucky football player Jason Watts pleaded guilty Wednesday to reckless homicide in an alcohol-related truck crash that killed a teammate and another young man.
Mr. Watts entered the plea during a 10-minute hearing in Pulaski Circuit Court. Judge Daniel Venters granted his request to go to prison immediately, and Mr. Watts reported to the Pulaski County Detention Center Wednesday afternoon.
Judge Venters scheduled Mr. Watts for sentencing April 16. Pulaski Commonwealth Attorney Eddy Montgomery said he would ask that Mr. Watts serve consecutive terms of five years on each count for a total of 10 years.
Mr. Watts, who avoided a July trial on manslaughter charges, declined a chance to speak in court. He and his attorney, James Lowry, did not make themselves available to comment afterward.
Mr. Watts' father, Jim, attended the hearing and spoke briefly afterward. “It's best for everyone to try to get on with their lives,” he said. “This is a sad, sad day for everyone.”
The Nov. 15 crash on U.S. 27 north of Somerset injured Mr. Watts and killed teammate Arthur Steinmetz and Eastern Kentucky student Scott Brock.
Mr. Watts faced up to 25 years in prison if convicted on the original charges. Under Wednesday's plea, his maximum sentence dropped to 10 years and the wanton endangerment charge was dismissed.
Mr. Watts was hospitalized for a week with an arm laceration. He was kicked off the football team and left school briefly before returning in January.
The tragedy darkened Kentucky's most successful football season in years, one that climaxed with an invitation to the Jan. 1 Outback Bowl. Mr. Watts, a 21-year-old senior from Oviedo, Fla., played a key role in the team's success, starting 10 games at center and anchoring a line that protected star quarterback Tim Couch.
Mr. Steinmetz, a 19-year-old from Edgewood, had transferred to Kentucky from Michigan State and was sitting out a year while waiting to become eligible. Mr. Brock, 21, of Hyden, was a close childhood friend and high school teammate of Mr. Couch.
At the time of the wreck, the three were headed to a farm near Somerset to go deer hunting. Mr. Watts and Mr. Brock had spent several hours the previous night at Haney's, a Lexington bar, where they celebrated the Wildcats' Nov. 14 home win over Vanderbilt and hung out until early Sunday.
The crash occurred just before 7 a.m., as Mr. Watts passed another driver and lost control of his truck, which flipped.
Mr. Montgomery, the prosecutor, said Mr. Watts' lawyers indicated from the start that he would take responsibility and Mr. Montgomery said he thought Mr. Watts' unusual request to begin his jail sentence immediately was part of that.
“From day one, they've indicated that he wanted to (take responsibility) and that he wants to start serving time,” Mr. Montgomery said.
Mr. Montgomery said Mr. Watts will be eligible for so-called “shock” probation, which is given at the judge's discretion to first-time offenders who have served between one and six months of a sentence.
Such a motion cannot be made until at least 30 days after a defendant is sentenced, meaning Mr. Watts would serve at least 61/2 weeks in prison before being eligible for shock probation. Mr. Montgomery said he would oppose shock probation.
“From my perspective, if he ended up serving 10 years, that's an appropriate sentence,” he said.
In his only public statement since the crash, Mr. Watts addressed students last week at Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tenn., blaming himself for the deaths.
Mr. Montgomery said Mr. Watts' public expression of remorse was not part of the plea agreement, but that it might be taken into account by Judge Venters in sentencing Mr. Watts.
He said Judge Venters also will be able to consider Mr. Watts' 1997 arrest for drunkenly shooting teammate Omar Smith in the buttocks as the two handled a rifle outside the Lexington house they shared.
Mr. Watts initially was charged with first-degree assault, but charges later were reduced to unlawful discharge of a weapon.
The Pulaski County jail, a 159-bed facility on the outskirts of Somerset, is where Mr. Watts is expected to serve out whatever sentence he receives, according to Jailer Darrell Presley.
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