30 days in jail for manslaughter?

By DAN ROSS
Register Online Editor

Drive drunk, hit a petestrian and kill him, and what do you get?

If you a re a regular Joe, you get a dozen or more years behind bars. If you are a professional football player, you get 30 days in jail.

Witness Tuesday's decision to place former Sacramento area high school star Donte Stallworth, who pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter in Florida, in lockup for a whole month.

There's justice for ya. The more you earn, the more high-priofile you are, the less you pay for your crime. Hard to be any less cynical after a decision like this one.

Oh wait, he gets two years of house arrest, a lifetime ban on driving and also eight years probation for using his Bentley to plow down 59-year-old Mario Reyes in the mid-morning hours of March 14 after a night of drinking while celebrating a $4.5 million bonus he gained the previous night.

Stallworth, who played high school football at Grant High in Sacramento, went on to play for the New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots and most recently the Cleveland Browns

The Associated Press article about this incident states Stallworth got off with a month in jail die to a "lack of previous criminal record, cooperation with police and willingness to accept responsibility as factors in the plea deal."

Stallworth blew a .126 after the deadly crash. He was legally drunk.

Yes he did stop and admit hitting Reyes.

Yes he did say he was sorry.

No, 30 days is not right for killing another due to your own willful actions of drinking and driving.

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