Thursday, May 28, 2009
Arrests and Convictions
On January 1, 2006, police announced that they were searching for Clarett in relation to two incidents of armed robbery that took place at 1:46am outside the Opium Lounge danceclub in Columbus. Allegedly, with a .45 caliber handgun, Clarett robbed two people and then escaped in a white SUV with two unidentified persons. Clarett reportedly made off with only a cell phone valued at $150 belonging to one of the victims.
Said Jim Tressel, his former coach at Ohio State, "I hope it's not true, but beyond that, I don't know much, but my reaction is, I was sad."
Clarett turned himself in to police shortly after 9 p.m., EST, on January 2, just as the Buckeyes were defeating Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona, the very bowl game in which Clarett last played college football. He faced two counts of aggravated robbery. He was later released on $50,000 bond.
On February 10, 2006, Clarett was indicted by a Franklin County grand jury on two counts of aggravated robbery with gun specifications and five other counts. If convicted, he would be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison. His attorneys said that he denied every allegation, saying Clarett "intends to fight this indictment with the same vigor and resolve he displayed in taking OSU to a national championship."
On February 22, 2006, Maurice Clarett pleaded not guilty to aggravated-robbery charges. He was released on $20,000 bail until his trial began.
On July 26, 2006, Clarett fired his lawyers, William Settina and Robert Krapenc, two weeks before his trial date. The privately retained attorneys had filed a motion two days earlier saying they wanted to withdraw their counsel, claiming that Clarett was not paying their fees or cooperating in his defense.
At a status hearing held on August 9, 2006 pertaining to the January charges, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David Fais increased Clarett's bond to $1.1 million.This was due to Clarett's arrest earlier that morning (see below). On August 10, 2006, Fais ordered an additional status hearing which was held on August 11, 2006. This hearing had not been requested by either the prosecution or Clarett's defense team but was requested by Fais himself.At the hearing, Fais delayed the trial until September 18, 2006, revoked the $1.1 million bond in the case and ordered Clarett to undergo a mental health evaluation.
August 2006 arrest
In the early morning hours of August 9, 2006, Clarett was arrested in Columbus after he made an illegal U-turn and led the police on a chase in a sports utility vehicle reportedly belonging to his uncle. After driving over a police-mounted spike strip, the chase ended in a nearby restaurant parking lot.
Police said they were forced to secure a cloth around Clarett's mouth after he allegedly spit at the officers and called them "niggers" during the arrest.
According to Columbus Police Sgt. Mike Woods, the officers discovered a katana, a loaded AK-47 variant and two other loaded handguns in his vehicle along with an open bottle of Grey Goose vodka. The police requested that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives perform a trace on the firearms to determine if Clarett violated Federal gun laws.
The officers used mace to subdue Clarett after attempts to subdue him with a Taser proved ineffective because he was wearing kevlar body armor.
Clarett was arraigned on the latest charges on August 10, 2006 in Franklin County Municipal Court in Columbus. During the arraignment, Judge Andrea C. Peeples set his bond on the charges of carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and failure to maintain current lane at $5 million. In setting the bond, Peeples agreed with prosecutors that Clarett is now a flight risk or could attempt to intimidate witnesses in his upcoming robbery trial. Clarett remained lodged in the Franklin County Corrections Center, however, as the $1.1 million bond for the robbery charge was revoked by trial judge David Fais. According to a Columbus Dispatch report, Clarett, who was due to be tried for his January arrest, was in the neighborhood of one of the principal witnesses against him at the time the events of August 9 occurred.
On September 18, Clarett filed a guilty plea to the charges in a plea bargain that involved these events as well as the earlier robbery charges. He was sentenced by Judge David Fais to seven and a half years in prison, but may apply for early release after three and a half years. As part of the plea agreement, the prosecution agreed not to object to early release if and when Clarett applies for it.
On December 14, it was announced that Clarett will be changing prisons to a close-security prison in a single person cell at Toledo Correctional Institution. He will be able to eat with and exercise with other inmates.
He is currently enrolled in a distance-learning program at Ohio University while he serves his sentence at the Toledo Correctional Institution. Clarett is trying to earn a bachelor's degree in Geriatrics and Gerontology.
Blog
As of 2009, Clarett is blogging about his life in prison on The Mind of Maurice Clarett daily; although he does not have internet access in the prison, he sends his entries to family members, who post them for him.
In a recent post, Clarett sums up his attitude by saying about prison by saying "Understand my struggle so you can respect my hustle. I am never coming back here, believe that. Never, I am cool on this. It is first-class living from the day I get out. I WILL NEVER SETTLE FOR LESS, EVER AGAIN. That goes for communication, personal relationships, housing, education, friendships, and travel arrangements. Everything. I have the fire in my eyes"
Football career
College
After displaying his abilities as a punishing freshman tailback on the Austintown-Fitch High School Varsity team, Clarett transferred to Warren G. Harding High School to continue his scholastic career and garnered national attention. When he graduated from Harding, many national publications ranked him among the top 100 players nationally. Clarett received an offer from Ohio State University and verbally committed to Ohio State over offers from Notre Dame, Fresno State and Purdue before signing with the Buckeyes in February 2002. Later, Clarett received the USA Today high-school player of the year and Parade All American distinctions.
Clarett starred at Ohio State for one season, rushing for 1,237 yards (a school record for a freshman) and scoring 18 touchdowns, which helped the Buckeyes to a 14-0 record and the 2002 BCS National Championship. He scored the winning touchdown against the University of Miami with a five-yard run in the second overtime in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl (played January 3, 2003). He also made a key defensive play in that game, stealing the ball from Hurricanes safety Sean Taylor, who had just intercepted a Craig Krenzel pass in the end zone. After that play, Ohio State kicked a field goal, giving them a 10-point lead at the time. Clarett was the first freshman to be the leading rusher on a national championship team since Ahman Green of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1995.
First signs of trouble
Clarett's time at Ohio State University was marked by several troubling incidents. He was seen yelling at his position coach during the Northwestern - Ohio State game in the 2002 season. In December 2002, he publicly maligned OSU officials for not paying for him to fly home for the funeral of a friend and accused administrators of lying when they said he had not filed the necessary paperwork. In July 2003, Clarett became the center of an academic scandal when a teaching assistant told the New York Times that Clarett had received preferential treatment from a professor; the investigation did not find sufficient evidence of academic misconduct.
Ohio State later suspended Clarett for the 2003 athletic year after he was charged with filing a false police report. Clarett had filed a false claim that more than $10,000 in clothing, CDs, cash and stereo equipment were stolen from a car he borrowed from a local dealership in September 2003. Athletic Director Andy Geiger stated that Clarett also took thousands of dollars in special benefits and repeatedly misled investigators. Clarett later pleaded guilty to a lesser criminal charge (failure to aid a law enforcement official) in that incident.
Clarett moved to Los Angeles after his dismissal from Ohio State and began associating with rap music performers. He enjoyed their lifestyle of parties, Malibu beach houses, and expensive cars. Soon his weight ballooned to 256 pounds - much heavier than most running backs. He trained briefly with Charles Poliquin, the trainer for former Ohio State receiver David Boston. Boston was later suspended from the NFL after testing postive for steroids.
Clarett sued to be included in the 2004 NFL Draft but lost in court. Subsequently, Clarett worked with trainers in preparation for the 2005 NFL Combine, hoping to impress for the upcoming draft.
National Football League
In his attempt to enter the 2004 NFL Draft, Clarett challenged the NFL's rule that a player must wait 3 years after graduating from High School to declare for the draft. Federal Judge Shira Scheindlin initially ruled that the NFL could not bar Clarett from participating in the 2004 NFL Draft[5]. This decision was later overturned by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in an opinion by Judge Sonia Sotomayor, and Clarett's petition for certiorari was refused by the Supreme Court[6]. Clarett and USC wide receiver Mike Williams, who were both hoping to enter the draft early, were then barred from the draft by the NFL. Later, the NCAA refused to reinstate the college eligibility of Clarett or Williams.
Clarett has been represented by California attorney David Kenner. Clarett also lived with Kenner and claims that Kenner helped him straighten out his life. Kenner is the longtime attorney of Death Row Records CEO and controversial hip-hop kingpin Marion "Suge" Knight.
In February 2005, he participated in the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. During a press conference, he uttered the phrase: "It's a humbling thing being humble." After running for a disappointing 4.72 and 4.82 seconds in the 40 yard dash, he refused to participate further, and was referred to as "Slow-Mo" by the sports media, who were largely critical of his obvious lack of preparation.
Ohio State declined to allow him to take part in a private workout for pro scouts in Columbus because it wanted to avoid a "circus" situation.
Draft day surprise
In a widely unexpected move, Clarett was drafted on the first day of the 2005 NFL Draft with the final pick of the 3rd round (#101 overall) by the Denver Broncos. Many experts felt that he would fall to the 6th or 7th round, if he was drafted at all. Clarett, however, was unimpressive in the Denver Broncos' preseason training camp. In part due to having not played a game in two years or practiced in over a year, he entered training camp weighing 248 pounds (at least 20 pounds overweight). He was slow to recover from an injury.
Despite his unimpressive training camp, Clarett was offered and signed a four-year contract on July 28, 2005, with the Broncos in which he gave up $413,000 of guaranteed money in order to secure an incentive-laden deal. Clarett signed this deal against the advice of his former agents, Steve Feldman and Josh Luchs. Clarett's motivation was to replace the proposed deal with a package that would pay him first-round money if he rushed for 1,000 yards in multiple seasons.
However, after further disappointments and incidents with his coaches and never playing a preseason game, Clarett was released on waivers on August 28, 2005, only a month after signing his contract and before playing even a single down in the NFL. As is standard procedure in the NFL, for a 24-hour period after his release, other teams could have claimed him and taken on his contract. After that 24-hour period, he was free from his contract and able to negotiate with any team, but no team expressed interest.
Post-Bronco troubles
As his college and NFL careers tanked, The Miami Herald reported in September that Clarett was already $1 million in debt from legal fees for his fight with the NFL and other costs. They also reported that Clarett turned down the traditional signing bonus in the originally proposed contract from Denver because Kenner wanted incentives that would pay Clarett if he became a star. When contacted by The Herald, Kenner said: "I'm not at liberty to discuss any of those matters. But thank you for the call." Kenner then hung up.
Exploring alternatives to the NFL
According to the Wheeling News-Register, Clarett was in talks to play for the Steubenville Stampede. The Stampede are in the North Division of the American Indoor Football League. The AIFL began its second year of league play in February 2006. According to Jim Terry, Manager of the Stampede, "I have been in contact with [Clarett's] agent and he's expressed interest with us... Clarett is hungry and has something to prove. He has a chip on his shoulder and wants to show he can still play." However, Clarett never signed with the Stampede. In an interview with the Columbus Dispatch published on August 10, 2006, Terry claimed that Clarett attempted to call him just minutes before the events on the morning of August 9 that led to Clarett's arrest.
Clarett also expressed interest in playing for NFL Europe. Josh Luchs, Clarett's agent, reported that Clarett was going to sign with the NFL on January 2, 2006, and was expected to be allocated to NFL Europe.
There were also discussions about Clarett playing for the semi-pro Eastern Indoor Football League team the Mahoning Valley Hitmen, coached by the same Jim Terry.
Maurice Clarett
Maurice Edward Clarett (born October 29, 1983 in Youngstown, Ohio[1]) is a former American college football player. During his freshman year at Ohio State University, he had what is considered one of the greatest freshmen seasons in NCAA Division I-A history, and helped to lead the Buckeyes to a national championship. He is well known for unsuccessfully challenging the NFL's rule that a player must have been out of high school for three years to be eligible for the entry draft, and for his tumultuous life in and out of the courtroom afterwards. Clarett attended the same preschool as Ken Dorsey (quarterback for the Miami Hurricanes), whom he would later run into in the 2002 national championship game. Since the national championship game that made him a household name, Clarett has not played another game of football. The former tailback is currently serving prison time after accepting a plea deal amid charges of robbery, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, and resisting arrest.
Personal
Maurice Clarett is the son of Myke Clarett Sr. and Michelle Renee Clarett (now divorced). His father is a businessman, who once worked as a Regional Representative for the Secretary of State in Ohio. His mother worked as a senior administrator for the Youngstown City Clerk of Court. He has an older brother named Marcus A. Clarett who was a Defensive Tackle for the University of Buffalo and another older brother, Michael Graham Clarett Jr.
Maurice has a daughter, born July 16, 2006, with girlfriend Ashley Evans. Clarett also has a cousin Vince Charles Marrow who played as a tight end in the NFL, XFL and NFL Europe; Marrow also was an Offense Assistant/Tight Ends coach for NFL Europe's Berlin Thunder. Another of Clarett's cousins, Walter Reyes, was a star running back at nearby Struthers High School and at Syracuse University, and played on special teams as an undrafted free agent for the Tennessee Titans.