Former Giants star Plaxico Burress is expected to go to prison after sentencing

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Former Giants star Plaxico Burress is expected to go to prison after sentencing
By The Associated Press
September 22, 2009, 5:34AM

Plaxico BurressNew York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress arrives at a police station, Dec.1, 2008, in New York. (AP)

NEW YORK -- Former New York Giants star Plaxico Burress expects to begin serving prison time immediately for accidentally shooting himself at a nightclub last year.

The former New York Giants wide receiver, who pleaded guilty Aug. 20 to one count of attempted criminal possession of a weapon, was to be sentenced today. He has said he hopes to return to football when he's freed.

Burress pleaded to a lesser charge and agreed to a two-year prison term after he was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment. He had faced a minimum sentence of 3 1/2 years on those charges if convicted at trial.

The Giants released Burress in April, but the 32-year-old told ESPN he hopes to resume his NFL career when he completes his sentence.

Gil Brandt, an analyst on NFL Sirius Radio and the former head of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys, said Burress won't be too old for a comeback when he's released from prison.

"First of all, Plaxico is a guy who keeps himself in pretty good shape," Brandt said. "Lots of times guys get heavy in the offseason. He is not a guy who has done that."

But Brandt intimated it could be difficult for Burress to reacquire his football skills after so much time on the sidelines.

"It's like a person who has gone to college or high school and drops out of school for two years," he said. "It is hard to reacquire your study habits. I think it is hard to reacquire the work habits you need to be successful when you have been away from the game for two years or so."

Defense lawyer Benjamin Brafman has said Burress was thinking of his family in taking the plea, but the attorney questioned the recommended prison sentence.

"This was not an intentional criminal act," Brafman said the day of the plea. "In my judgment, a two-year prison sentence is a very severe punishment."

With time off for good behavior, Burress likely will serve 20 months. He will be monitored during an additional two years after his release, which could come as early as the spring of 2011.

Burress, who caught the winning touchdown for the Giants over the previously undefeated New England Patriots in the final minute of the 2008 Super Bowl, and former teammate Antonio Pierce were at the Latin Quarter nightclub in Manhattan last November when a gun tucked into Burress' waistband slipped down his leg and fired, shooting him in the right thigh.

The gun was not licensed in New York or in New Jersey, where Burress lived. His license to carry a concealed weapon in the Florida had expired in May 2008.

Pierce, who drove Burress to a hospital after the shooting, was not indicted.