Former Penn State wide receiver Chris Bell was sentenced to four years probation Thursday, pleading guilty to a misdemeanor simple assault charge after a judge threw out his original plea deal nearly three months ago.
Bell on Thursday withdrew his original guilty plea to charges of terroristic threats -- which carried two years probation -- this time pleading guilty to simple assault and possession of an instrument of crime, both misdemeanors. The charges stem from an April altercation in which police said Bell threatened former teammate Devon Still with an 8-inch cooking knife in the Pollock Dining Commons. Bell and Still were arguing over a cell phone cover, police said.
After the incident, Bell was kicked off the football team and subsequently expelled from the university. But Bell, now enrolled at Norfolk State University and a member of the football team, has moved on, his lawyer said.
"This is what we've been looking for," Anthony De Boef, Bell's attorney, said. "We didn't want to do anything but take responsibility and move forward."
Bell is also ordered to take anger management classes as part of his sentence.
Centre County Judge Bradley Lunsford in September rejected the original plea deal of two years probation, saying he wanted to investigate if Bell's use of a knife warranted a stricter punishment via application of a deadly weapons enhancement.
De Boef said the deadly weapons enhancement did not apply to the new sentence, something both sides agreed on.
"We made a different plea because we wanted to make sure there was no question [the enhancement did not apply]," he said of the knife's involvement in this case. "It was questionable before, now it is clearer."
Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira agreed, saying after the hearing the commonwealth was not seeking the application of the deadly weapons enhancement.
"We already determined he didn't have a prior record," he said. "And the victims weren't interested in anything more with this case."
Madeira also said the commonwealth has a wider range of options with this sentence were Bell to violate the terms of his probation.
When prompted by Lunsford, Bell -- dressed in black slacks, a white shirt and suspenders -- said he is doing well academically at Norfolk State, with two As, one B and one C.
