Floyd Mayweather just captured the WBA, WBC, and Ring Magazine 154 pound title when he defeated Miguel Cotto on May 5th; Mayweather took home a unanimous decision victory by the judges scores of 117-111, 117-111 and 118-110. I thought that the fight was actually a bit closer and very much more competitive than the scoring would suggest. I scored it 115-113 for Mayweather in a battle that took place at the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, the very same city Mayweather is scheduled to complete a 90 days jail stint after pleading guilty to domestic violence charges related to a September 2010 incident with ex-girlfriend Josie Harris.
Now, I’m not writing this article to discredit or praise Mayweather. I’m merely trying to help people understand a few prejudicial facts. First, celebrities don’t do jail time! And when they do it isn’t usually the amount of time you or I would get for the same crime.
One name that comes to mind is the infamous Chris brown. Chris Brown, who was 20 years old at the time, pleaded guilty to felony assault by means likely to cause great bodily harm and was sentenced to five years of probation and 180 days of community labor to be served in Virginia. He also completed a year of domestic violence classes, and paid fines.
We all know just how bad Rihanna looked after that assault. However, we never saw pictures of Josie Harris though.
Another celebrity to escape the full wrath of a convicted crime is Lindsay Lohan. Beverly Hills judge, Marsha Revel, declared the 24-year-old starlet in violation of probation for her 2007 DUI conviction for failing to attend court-ordered alcohol education classes. Revel sentenced Lohan to 90 days in jail followed by 90 days in-patient rehab.
Lohan may only end up serving a few weeks of her 90 day jail sentence — Whitmore noted that “female, non-violent prisoners will do about 25-percent of their sentence” because L.A. jails suffer from “an overcrowding situation.”
After spending a mere 13 days in jail (13 days?!) and doing a stint in rehab, Lohan failed a drug test which of course was a violation of her probation. She went back before the judge and now faces more jail time. Mind you I’m using air quotes for that 13 day bid she did and shaking my head vigorously in disgust.
So still don’t believe me? Ok, let’s move on to the sex symbol herself Paris Hilton. Just ask Paris Hilton, who was sentenced to the same jail in 2007. Hilton served only five days of a 45-day sentence before being released. However, public outcry prompted a judge to send her back to jail for a total of 23 days. The Times found that she spent significantly more time behind bars than other women sent to jail for the same violations. (Credit LA Times http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/07/will-lindsay-lohan-ge…) Paris Hilton was arrested on charges of drunk driving in September
In January, she pleaded no contest to a charge of alcohol-related reckless driving. She was sentenced to three years’ probation and had her license suspended. In February, she was caught driving on a suspended license, which later was ruled a probation violation. Oh but wait, this little vixen has had more run-ins with the law than Floyd Mayweather.
Hilton served a year of probation and avoided a felony conviction following her arrest for cocaine possession in August of 2010, according to a Nevada prosecutor.
Hilton plead guilty to drug possession and obstructing an officer, completed a drug abuse program, paid a $2,000 fine and served 200 hours of community service as part of the plea agreement, Clark County District Attorney David Roger said.
The plea agreement allows Hilton to avoid two consecutive six-month sentences in the Clark County Detention Center, which will be suspended, according to the plea agreement obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
As for Mayweather and the perceived benefits his celebrity garnered through the legal system, understand that even if he served every day of his 90 day stint (which he won’t) he’s already been a privileged prisoner. How many construction workers could have gotten a postponed sentence in order to finish their site job? How many contractors are afforded the opportunity to suspend a jail sentence for a couple months so that they can start a drywall job? How many mechanics are allowed to forgo their convicted sentence for the sake of finishing a customer’s El Dorado? The answer: not many, if any.
The fact that Floyd was allowed to fight on Cinco de Mayo already proves my point in a general manner. Floyd knows that his days are numbered, but he also realizes those days spent in jail are numbered and he’s already making a strong case to be released early from a public relations side. The fact he apologized on air to Larry Merchant for their infamous post-fight interview is pretty suspect to say the least. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the sentiments because, in fact, I believe it was the right thing to do, but I just feel that the apology was more of a strategic move that was used to build a good report with a legal system that takes those kinds of things into account (especially because Mayweather’s feelings on the subject were expressed very differently in the first episode of 24/7).
So does anyone believe me now when I say Floyd Mayweather does about 15 days, remember he can get electronic monitoring or weekends in jail only (there’s tons of alternatives to jail time such as the work release program but one thing’s for sure and that is Floyd Mayweather will not be doing 90 days). See, the first thing people need to know is you get work credit if you work during your jail sentence and you also get time shaved off your sentence for good behavior so Floyd will be back out in no time.
I’m assuming he stays out of trouble while in the slammer because most celebs live a life of exile while in jail, usually in solitary confinement. Some have to, it’s not easy to do time when everyone knows you just made 32 million versus Miguel Cotto and that’s not including the PPV upside.
So Mayweather fanatics worry not because although “Money May” must pay his debt to society, he will be home before summer is over (and just in time to not fight Pacquiao).
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