MSU football player Cole Corey was sentenced Thursday to spend between two and 10 years in prison for possession of a controlled substance Thursday in the Lenawee County Circuit Court.
Corey appeared in 11 games for the Spartans in 2005, recording six tackles and returning a kick on special teams. He also earned Academic All-Big Ten honors as a freshman in 2004.
A statement released by MSU spokesman Terry Denbow reported that Corey's involvement with the football team and all other athletic perks would be immediately terminated.
"Per MSU's Student-Athlete Conduct Policy, in effect since 1996, any student-athlete who, while a member of an MSU intercollegiate athletic team, is convicted of a felony will be suspended from the team and precluded from participation in games and all other benefits related to team membership," the statement said.
Corey was listed as the starting bandit on last spring's depth chart.
Michigan guidelines stipulate being convicted of possessing a controlled substance carries a 17-month maximum penalty, but the judge extended the sentence because of the severity of Corey's crimes, defense attorney David Goldstein said.
Originally charged with five counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and eight drug-related offenses, Corey was allowed to drop 12 charges as part of a plea agreement. He pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance Feb. 9.
The case is part of a complex web of parties, sports, pornography and drug abuse that began when Corey was a student at Tecumseh High School.
John Clark, deputy police chief at the Tecumseh Police Department, said a woman reported Corey and a friend from high school raped her after they took Ecstasy and consumed alcohol in the spring of 2002.
"Basically, we did the collection of evidence and it was preserved," he said. "Both suspects as well as the victim had been interviewed. Unfortunately, due to the victim's age, she came under a lot of peer pressure and thought it would be easier to walk away from everything."
When one of the men who allegedly raped the woman was accused of attacking someone else, the woman came forward and decided to reopen her complaint against the man and Corey.
"It's a very sad story, as far as I'm concerned," Clark said. "It's a shame when anybody that age makes a poor decision. You have a 17-year-old … who made some very poor choices."
John Lewandowski, MSU Sports Information director and director of communications, did not return a call for comment.
