Thursday, March 28, 2024

Moss sentenced to slammer

Former co-captain expects to serve 9 days on weekends

January 31, 2003

Former Spartan tailback Dawan Moss was sentenced to 20 days in jail Thursday on charges of drunken driving, fleeing and alluding police and resisting arrest.

But his sentence may be reduced, and he has sought counseling for his alcohol problem, his lawyer Stephan Holland said.

Moss, a co-captain last season, expects only to serve nine days in jail according to Holland.

Moss will get credit for one day already served and won't have to serve the other 10 days if he completes his one-year probation.

Moss will serve his jail time on weekends.

Holland said Moss "was calm and understood the ramifications of the sentence and handled it professionally."

Moss, who pleaded no contest to the charges, will also pay about $1,100 in fines and legal fees, Holland said.

Holland said the sentence was fair, although he said it was higher than the pre-trial recommendation. He added Moss' previous drunken driving conviction in Mississippi likely made the sentence more severe.

Moss didn't receive alcohol counseling after the Mississippi conviction, but has aggressively pursued treatment since the Nov. 3 incident, Holland said.

"Technically this was a second offense, but we treated this as first offense," he said, because Moss didn't receive prior treatment. "He went beyond what would be recommended."

Holland said Moss' two felony charges, fleeing and alluding police and resisting arrest, were reduced to one-year misdemeanors, the same as the second offense drunken driving charge.

The charges stem from an incident in Lansing, where Moss stopped his vehicle in traffic as Lansing police were directing traffic after an event at the Lansing Center, 333 E. Michigan Ave.

Police asked Moss to move his vehicle and when he did not, an officer approached his car and Moss began to drive away, Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said in November. The officer reached in the car and grabbed the shifter and was dragged an unknown distance.

Dunnings could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.

Following the incident, former MSU football head coach Bobby Williams removed Moss from the team. Williams was fired the next day and former interim head coach Morris Watts changed Moss' status to indefinitely suspended. He did not play for the remainder of the season.

Holland said Moss is planning on re-enrolling in MSU and resuming a football career. A senior last season, Moss has used all his college eligibility.

Discussion

Share and discuss “Moss sentenced to slammer” on social media.