Henry goes to jail

[Degenerate39]

Bengals' Henry goes to jail, waits for NFL decision

By JOE KAY, AP Sports Writer
January 25, 2007

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Chris Henry got a judge's lecture and a two-day jail sentence after settling the last of his four court cases Thursday, putting the Cincinnati Bengals receiver in line for another suspension from the NFL.

Henry drew a two-game suspension this season for violating the league's conduct and substance abuse policies, and could get a harsher punishment for his latest convictions.

"We are reviewing this and will take appropriate disciplinary action in due course," spokesman Steve Alic said.

Henry has become the symbol of Cincinnati's extensive off-field problems -- nine players arrested in the last nine months, two of them suspended by the league during the season. Henry had four arrests in the last 14 months.

He avoided jail time in the first three cases, but was taken to the Kenton County Jail in northern Kentucky on Thursday after a judge accepted his guilty plea for letting minors drink in a hotel room he rented last spring.


"You embarrassed yourself," Kenton County District Judge Greg Grothaus told Henry. "You embarrassed a lot of people, teammates, friends and family, the city, the fans and myself."

Grothaus gave Henry a 90-day sentence, and suspended all but two days. Prosecutor Ken Easterling wanted Henry to spend some time in jail.

"Looking at his history and the amount of times he's gone before other courts and not gotten jail time, the reason we sought jail time was to send a very clear message to him that this is going to be the response every time you get in trouble in our community," Easterling said. "So I hope, as the judge indicated, that he gets the message."

When the Bengals' season ended with an 8-8 mark, coach Marvin Lewis sent the message that he was cracking down on player misconduct. Since then, cornerback Johnathan Joseph has been arrested and charged with possession of marijuana.

Six of the Bengals' picks from the last two drafts have been charged with crimes.

"It's good that this case involving Chris has been resolved," Lewis said in a statement. "Now Chris must continue to strive to mature and grow both as a player and as a person."

In the last two days, Henry accepted plea agreements to end the last two court cases against him.

In neighboring Clermont County, he entered a guilty plea on Wednesday to reckless operation of a vehicle. He was arrested last June on a drunken-driving charge, but the results of a breath test were thrown out because the machine was improperly calibrated. Henry had registered 0.092 on the blood-alcohol test, above the state's legal limit of 0.08 percent.

He was fined $250, given a suspended 30-day jail sentence and prohibited from using alcohol or drugs as part of the agreement. He will have to take random drug tests.

Henry's lawyer, Bob Lotz, declined to comment. Clermont County prosecutor Don White said the plea agreement was offered some time ago.

"His attorney is trying to put everything together, get everything taken care of at one time," White said.

On Thursday, Henry settled the case involving underaged drinking. He originally was charged with three counts of unlawful transactions with a minor.

Police said he brought alcohol for three females -- ages 18, 16 and 15 -- in a Covington, Ky., motel room on April 29. One of the three, Monica Beamon, 18, was charged with murder in Cincinnati last September.

Witnesses said Henry was not drinking and did not buy the alcohol. He pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor violation of a city ordinance commonly referred to as a "keg law."

As part of his sentence, Henry has to give speeches to high school and middle school students in the area.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been troubled by the Bengals' series of arrests. When he visited the team last September, he reminded them of their responsibility to stay out of trouble.

A few days later, linebacker Odell Thurman was arrested on a drunken-driving charge, and Henry was a passenger. Thurman, already serving a four-game suspension for skipping a drug test, had the punishment extended to the full season.

Henry wasn't charged in that matter, but got a two-game suspension for his marijuana and weapon cases that were already settled. He could receive a longer suspension for the two latest convictions.

When will it end

[Redhook]

"Looking at his history and the amount of times he's gone before other courts and not gotten jail time, the reason we sought jail time was to send a very clear message to him that this is going to be the response every time you get in trouble in our community," Easterling said. "So I hope, as the judge indicated, that he gets the message."

2 days in jail and he supposed to get the message? Are you kidding me! Forget that he is a Bengal and consider what he has done. Send him to jail for a month. That MIGHT send a message to him. 2 days is a slap on the wrist. It's pathetic and it won't change him one bit. He needs a major dose of reality and this judged copped out, IMO.

[GAC]

How many of us "average" citizens would have gotten such a sentence?

[Matt700wlw]

Sounds like a Movie..."Mr. Henry Goes to Jail."

[WMR]

I think I would have given him 2 weeks.

[Reds Freak]

Conditions of Henry's probation:

Chris Henry's punishment
To avoid serving the remaining 88 days of a suspended sentence in Kenton County (Ky.), Henry must:

• Pay a $250 fine plus court costs.
• Have no criminal activity for two years.
• Not consume alcohol or drugs for two years.
• Report to the Kentucky Alternative Program for drug and alcohol assessment.
• Give two speeches at Covington, Ky., schools — one at Two Rivers Middle School and one to Holmes High School athletes — on the dangers of drugs and alcohol and how they have negatively affected his career.
• To avoid serving 30 days in jail in Clermont County, the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver must:
• Report to a probation officer for two years.
• Not consume any alcohol or illegal drugs.
• Submit to random drug tests.
• Agree to let the court review drug tests on Henry administered by the NFL.
• Continue with substance-abuse and behavior-improvement counseling he began in May.

Yeah, I'm sure he will won't have any trouble not violating those terms...

[Falls City Beer]

Thread title sounds like a John Berryman poem.

[redsfanmia]

Originally Posted by GAC

How many of us "average" citizens would have gotten such a sentence?

As long as you have money you would have gotten such a sentence.

[RedsBaron]

If Marvin wants to release anybody, Henry is the guy.

[Highlifeman21]

Originally Posted by RedsBaron

If Marvin wants to release anybody, Henry is the guy.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but as long as Henry's off the field activities don't negatively impact his on the field performance, who gives a rat's behind?

[Redhook]

Originally Posted by Highlifeman21

Maybe I'm in the minority, but as long as Henry's off the field activities don't negatively impact his on the field performance, who gives a rat's behind?

I give a rat's behind because they do impact his on field performance. He missed 3 games this year due to his "off-the-field activities" this year. That's pretty big right there if you ask me. You may argue that his performance in the other 13 games wasn't affected. It may have not been affected, but who knows for sure? I can say this with confidence though....I highly doubt his performance would've been worse if he played all 16 games. I believe it'd be better. And his team would be better if they knew he'd be there and they could practice with the same core of players each week instead of having to mix and match the weeks Henry didn't play.

On top of that, he might be suspended for 4 games next year. I don't see any way how that wouldn't affect this team. Henry is a very good receiver and the Bengals only benefit from him being on the field.

Hopefully, he'll change and leave all this garbage behind. But, I'll believe it when I see it.

[Dom Heffner]

On the drive that would have sent the Bengals to the playoffs, Henry made the catch to put them in a position to win, and his head coach's boneheadedness pushed them five yards back while Shayne Graham then missed a very makeable field goal.

The people who didn't get in trouble with the law are the weak points in that equation.

Some of the judge's comments were omitted from this article and his little speech to Henry was not only holier than thou but it showed the judge didn't know a thing about football.

There were several reasons the Bengals didn't go to the playoffs and to lay it at Henry's feet- the team's number 3 receiver- is venting in the wrong direction.

[Reds Freak]

For every catch Henry did have, it seemed he had an even bigger drop at a more crucial point in the game (the ones that stick out in my head are the one vs. San Diego, at Denver, and last year in the playoffs vs. Pittsburgh). You just can't trust the guy to be there when you need a catch. Obviously the guy has an incredible amount of talent but when you can't count on him why keep him around? You can't even trust him to give 100 % effort (at Baltimore).

[Dom Heffner]

Then let him go because he sucks.

[Matt700wlw]

Originally Posted by Dom Heffner

Then let him go because he sucks.

Sure, he has his moments....but overall, he looks like a rather talented wide reciever to me.