UK's Watts Gets Probation
The former Kentucky football player who pleaded guilty in a drunken car crash that killed a teammate and another man will be released from jail next month.
Jason Watts was granted probation from a 10-year sentence Monday and will be on probation five years.
Judge Daniel Venters of Pulaski Circuit Court ordered that Watts be released July 19. During his probation he must attend an alcohol abuse program and do 50 hours a year of community service.
Pulaski prosecutor Eddy Montgomery said the early release devalues the seriousness of Watts' crime. Venters declined to comment on his decision.
Â"I know it's a pretty bare-bones order, but I don't really want to elaborate any further,Â" he said.
Watts is jailed at the Pulaski County Detention Center in Somerset, where he has been since pleading guilty to two counts of reckless homicide on March 31.
Contacted through Pulaski Jailer Darrell Presley, Watts declined to comment on being granted Â"shock probation,Â" an early release available to nonviolent offenders.
The crash occurred shortly after dawn last Nov. 15, when Watts' pickup truck went out of control and overturned as he tried to pass another driver north of Somerset.
Killed were Kentucky teammate Arthur Steinmetz, a 19-year-old defensive end who was sitting out the season after transferring from Michigan State, and 21-year-old Scott Brock, a longtime friend of Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch.
The three had been out all night celebrating the Wildcats' Senior Day victory over Vanderbilt the day before. They were on their way to a farm near Somerset to go deer hunting.
Tests showed Watts' blood-alcohol content to be 1 1/2 times the legal limit, and that Brock and Steinmetz also were drunk at the time of the crash.
Watts never disputed his guilt and chose to go to jail immediately after pleading guilty March 31. On April 20, Venters sentenced him to the maximum 10 years in prison.
In the weeks leading to his plea and sentencing, Watts gave several anti-drunken driving speeches at schools in Kentucky and Tennessee.
When he sentenced Watts, Venters questioned the value of those speeches. His probation order bars Watts from counting speaking engagements as community service.
The community service can include Â"work for a public service or charitable organization ... or public agencies,Â" Venters said.
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