Burress Pleads Guilty in Weapons Case

[tjw61]

Burress Pleads Guilty in Weapons Case
By John Eligon

Updated, 10:16 a.m. | Plaxico Burress, the former Giants receiver, pleaded guilty on Thursday morning in his weapons-possession case in a deal with Manhattan prosecutors that will send him to prison for two years.

Justice Michael H. Melkonian of State Supreme Court accepted the guilty plea. Along with the two-year prison sentence, Mr. Burress, 31, will be sentenced to two years of post-release supervision.

Mr. Burress was indicted earlier this month on charges relating to an episode in November 2008, when he accidentally shot himself in the thigh in a Manhattan nightclub. The Giants released him in April without waiting for the outcome of the criminal proceedings.

If the case were to go to trial and Mr. Burress were convicted of all charges — two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count of second-degree reckless endangerment — he could face 3½ to 15 years in prison. The plea agreement still needs the approval of a State Supreme Court justice.

The shooting occurred shortly after 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 29 at the Latin Quarter Nightclub in Midtown. Security guards had allowed Mr. Burress to enter with a .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic pistol tucked in the waistband of his jeans. The gun was loaded and not in a holster, according to prosecutors.

Mr. Burress, who caught the winning touchdown pass in the Giants’ 2008 Super Bowl victory against the New England Patriots, had a license to carry the gun in Florida, but it had expired nearly seven months before the shooting. Even if it were still valid, prosecutors said, Mr. Burress would not have been allowed to carry the weapon in New York.

Shortly after Mr. Burress reached the second-floor V.I.P. area, where there were 20 to 30 people, the gun slipped down his pant leg and accidentally fired as he attempted to prevent it from falling to the floor. The bullet hit Mr. Burress’s leg and narrowly missed a club security guard.

A grand jury decided not to indict Antonio Pierce, a Giants linebacker who was with Mr. Burress in the nightclub and drove him to a hospital.

[ken]

he finally done the smart thing