Texas A&M football quarterback Johnny Manziel early Monday pleaded guilty to failing to identify himself to police after a fight at Northgate, putting to rest a court case that followed him on his road to winning the Heisman Trophy.
The plea agreement called for Manziel to pay the maximum fine of $2,000, spend two days in jail and pay $232 in court costs. He won't have to spend any time behind bars, however, because the judge considered it time served since he was jailed following the June 2012 arrest by College Station police.
He faced up to 180 days in jail for the Class B misdemeanor charge.
Brazos County Attorney Rod Anderson said that as part of the plea agreement, the other Class B misdemeanor charge filed against Manziel — possessing a fake driver's license — was dismissed. Too, the 20-year-old's Class C misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct by fighting was dismissed by the city in municipal court.
Manziel, wearing jeans and a long-sleeved blue dress shirt, accompanied his attorney Cam Reynolds to the Brazos County Courthouse for the five-minute hearing in front of Magistrate Dana Zachary.
"He took responsibility for his actions that night and is ready to put what happened that night behind him," Reynolds said.
Manziel was taken into custody following a dispute involving a friend who was accused of using a racial slur toward another man, according to police records.
College Station police said an officer was on bicycle patrol in the Northgate entertainment district about 2 a.m. June 29, 2012, when he noticed two men fighting. A group of people was at the intersection of Church Avenue and First Street surrounding a black man and a white man, later identified as the 19-year-old Manziel, who were throwing punches in "mutual combat," according to police reports.
Police said after they stopped the fight, officers asked Manziel for identification, and he handed them a Louisiana driver's license showing his birthday as Dec. 6, 1990. Police said he did not look 21 years old, and when asked his age on several occasions Manziel kept confusing whether he was born in 1990 or 1992. Police said a short time later, officers found two other driver's licenses, one fake and one real, in Manziel's wallet, identifying him as 19, not 21.
Police said the 47-year-old man said Manziel and his 20-year-old friend, who is white, were walking toward him when the friend pointed at him and used a racial slur. The 47-year-old became upset and confronted the 20-year-old, which is when the older man and Manziel began fighting, according to police reports.
A witness told police he heard the 20-year-old use the slur, and when the 47-year-old confronted him, Manziel stepped between the two and said his friend "had not meant to say the word and that he was taking him home," according to police reports. The witness said the 47-year-old pushed against Manziel, who shoved him back, and then the fight began.
The plea agreement was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today. It wasn't immediately clear why it was moved to before 9 a.m.
fukk D1 athlete privilege.
