Patriots OL Kaczur avoids jail
editor1 |Jul 22,2008
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WHITESTOWN, New York (Ticker) -- New England Patriots offensive
lineman Nicholas Kaczur pleaded guilty in an upstate New York
court Tuesday to speeding, but will have a misdemeanor drug
charge dismissed if he avoids trouble for six months.
Kaczur, 28, was stopped for speeding on the New York State
Thruway outside Utica and arrested three months ago when police
allegedly found a small amount of OxyContin, a painkiller,
without a prescription.
Kaczur was clocked at driving 76 miles per hour - 10 miles over
the posted speed limit - and when he was pulled over, police
found a "small amount of a controlled substance for which he did
not have a prescription," according to New York State Police
Sergeant Ken Swoboda.
An Ontario native, the 315-pound Kaczur was charged with
criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh
degree. The charge had carried a maximum penalty of one year in
prison.
As part of Tuesday's plea arrangement, Kaczur paid $355 for the
speeding ticket and also agreed to participate in a two-year
drug treatment program administered by his employer, the
Patriots.
"The system ran its course," said Louis Vivani, Kaczur's
Syracuse-based attorney. "We are pleased with this disposition.
We don't think it's anything out of the ordinary. Nick's ready
to move on and happy to get over with it and start camp
tomorrow."
Kaczur helped federal authorities arrest his supplier in a sting
operation, but Assistant District Attorney Grant Garramone said
that cooperation did not factor into the plea agreement.
"I'm giving him this disposition based on my review of the
case," Garramone told the Boston Globe. "The substance he
possessed was for his own use. He had no criminal record. His
status as a football player does not enter into this equation at
all."
Drafted by New England in 2005 out of Toledo, Kaczur has started
35 games for the Patriots over the past three seasons.
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