Penn State football player Navorro Bowman's probation was extended one year after court officials said he admitted to smoking marijuana twice during his previous probation, which stemmed from a 2007 on-campus fight.
If the star linebacker violates his probation again, Bowman may be incarcerated for six months, Centre County Judge Bradley Lunsford said Wednesday morning in court.
"I made a mistake. Getting a degree here at Penn State is the best thing I could do," Bowman told the judge. "I don't want to get in any trouble ... I'm trying to stay out of trouble."
In addition to a one-year probation and monthly drug and alcohol testing, Bowman must not consume or possess alcohol or drugs, Lunsford said. He must also formally begin the 100 hours of community service issued during his last probation hearing, Lunsford said.
The judge told Bowman he was worried Penn State's 2008 leading tackler might end up like other famous athletes.
"They experience all the attention, fame and high salary, and they end up in jail or dead," Lunsford said in court.
Bowman pleaded guilty last May to disorderly conduct after being charged in connection with a 2007 fight at the HUB-Robeson Center. He was originally charged with felony aggravated assault, according to court documents.
During an April 9 meeting with his probation officer, Bowman admitted he smoked marijuana twice during his original probation, officials said in court.
"You were using drugs," Lunsford told Bowman at the hearing. "That's not being a leader in the community like I asked you to."
Bowman told Lunsford he has completed some community service but said he did not know how to register his time with the county.
"In his mind, he was doing things to better the community," prosecutor Steve Sloane said to Lunsford. "I don't think his intentions were as bad as some of what we've seen here."
Sloane recommended Bowman be issued six months of probation, but Lunsford ultimately doubled the prosecutor's recommendation.
"I'm supposed to look beyond the fact he's committed a criminal act on two occasions?" Lunsford said. He said he was "uncomfortable" with the precedent it would set.
Defense attorney Stacy Parks Miller said she was not asking Lunsford to condone her client's behavior, but she noted the recent deaths of Bowman's father and high school coach, whom Bowman has described as his "second father."
"This is a 20-year-old man who lost the two most important people in his life other than his mother," Parks Miller said.
But the judge said many people have experienced personal tragedies as Bowman has, and he doesn't think the athlete took his first probation seriously enough.
"I spent all night last night thinking about this case," he said. "I'm worried about you. I want you to succeed. I want you to graduate. I want you to be a team leader. That's big stuff. I'm not sure you're headed in that direction. I need you to step up."
