Tuesday, July 20, 1999
Let out, Watts now prisoner of his memories
Ex-UK player starts early shock probation
BY AMY CAPPIELLO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — His prison term may have lasted only a few months, but for former Kentucky football player Jason Watts, the memory of what landed him in prison will never disappear.
Mr. Watts, 22, was released from the Pulaski County Detention Center at 12:03 a.m. Sunday after serving nearly four months for an alcohol-related car crash.
Kentucky teammate Arthur “Artie” Steinmetz, 19, a defensive end from Edgewood who was sitting out the season after transferring from Michigan State, and 21-year-old Scott Brock, a Hyden resident and longtime friend of former Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch, were killed in the accident.
“The mental and emotional scars will last forever,” Mr. Watts said while speaking at Southern Adventist University in late March, days before pleading guilty to two counts of reckless homicide. “I literally see my buddies dying in my arms because of me.”
He declined to comment after his release.
While he wouldn't comment on Mr. Watts's release, Lynn Ray, Mr. Steinmetz's football coach at Covington Catholic High School, said his former player was a unique individual.
“The thing I always liked about Artie was that he always had a smile on his face,” Mr. Ray said. “He was always happy with what he was doing, whether it was school, football, life, whatever. He really was a pleasure to be around.”
Even though Mr. Steinmetz had to postpone his football career for a year after his transfer, Mr. Ray believed he had the talent to play in the National Football League.
“He was the best defensive lineman we ever had here,” Mr. Ray said. “He would have done really well at UK, but ... ”
Mr. Watts had been in jail since March 31, when he pleaded guilty to two counts of reckless homicide and volunteered to start serving time immediately.
Although Circuit Judge Daniel J. Venters sentenced Mr. Watts to the maximum 10 years in prison April 20, he granted shock probation on June 28, an early release sometimes given to nonviolent offenders.
Pulaski Commonwealth Attorney Eddy Montgomery opposed the move to grant shock probation.
“I just think he should have served more time,” Mr. Montgomery said. “In my petition I asked for 12 months. At the very least, he should have served six months. I just think 92 days is too little.”
The crash occurred early Nov. 15, when Mr. Watts' pickup truck went out of control and overturned as he tried to pass another driver on U.S. 27 north of Somerset.
Mr. Watts, Mr. Steinmetz and Mr. Brock had been out all night celebrating the Wildcats' Senior Day victory over Vanderbilt the previous day. They were on their way to a farm near Somerset to go deer hunting.
Tests showed Mr. Watts' blood-alcohol content to be 11/2 times the legal limit and that Mr. Brock and Mr. Steinmetz were also drunk at the time of the crash.
Mr. Watts never disputed his guilt. As conditions of his release, Mr. Watts was sentenced to five years probation, ordered to complete 50 hours of community service a year and required to complete an alcohol abuse program.
“Because of my poor judgment, my two buddies were gone,” Mr. Watts said in March. “When you think about it, I should've been the first one to go ... Getting in that car that night was a mistake.”
The Associated Press contributed.
Taft scuttles sales tax plan
Anderson High to stay Redskins
Bad air likely to linger for the week
Corrections made in way trash hauled
Headline: 'Footsteps on moon!'
Neighbors missed auto
911 service cut off for 12 hours
Taft gives Bush Ohio thumbs-up
Bell's upstream ride goes smoothly
A generation will remember Jackie's boy
A feel for farming
Friends of slain West End man 'can't figure out the reason why'
Let out, Watts now prisoner of his memories
Pickets back MU students
Butler Co. high school backs off on uniforms
Butler traffic watch reports big drop in DUI accidents, no deaths
Clermont's 150th fair has touch of history
Ky. man helped Kennedy keep fit
New law empowers townships
Parking at airport may get easier
Plant will give town a new life
Study: Ohio education agency lost, inefficient
Walnut Hills man found dead in Fla.
Buyouts may solve flood woes
Center accepts check
GET TO IT
Juvenile judge must decide: Is teen a victim or attacker?
Two new defendants OK'd in school asbestos case
Police, coroner study death of West End girl, 4
Principal coming out of retirement for one-year stint at Donovan
School's in session for Heritage Hill kids
Storms sap power in 200 homes
TRISTATE DIGEST
Victimized family forgives man who shot at them
