Stallworth Settles With Reyes Family

As expected, Browns receiver Donte’ Stallworth has reached a financial settlement with the family of 59-year-old Mario Reyes, according to the Associated Press. The move paves the way for Stallworth to plead guilty to pending criminal charges with no complaints or objections from the Reyes family. And that’s the key to the attempted massaging of the Florida law that would seem to require Stallworth to spend a minimum of four years behind bars once, as expected, he pleads guilty to DUI manslaughter charges. If Stallworth’s lawyers and the prosecutors and the judge all agree that the four-year minimum applies only if there’s a “conviction” and that a guilty plea isn’t a “conviction” (even though we sort of think that it is), there will be no occasion for the interpretation to be challenged, if the family is pleased with the outcome. Really, who’s going to try to block this potential bastardization of the letter of the law? Who would even have legal standing to fight it? That’s the key here. Right or wrong, if the parties all agree that a guilty plea isn’t a conviction and there’s no one with the will or the ability to say otherwise, then Stallworth can be sentenced to whatever amount of time less than four years that the parties deem to be appropriate. The only remaining question is the specific amount of time that Stallworth will serve. If it’s 90 days or less, the reaction will be strong. And the Mike Vick supporters will have even more ammunition in support of calls for his immediate reinstatement.