Judge: OSU players' actions 'monumental stupidity'

BY MICHAEL BOOTH

GAZETTE-TIMES REPORTER

A player from Oregon State University's baseball team and a player from last year's team were sentenced to 15 days in jail Wednesday for firing a rifle inside city limits.

John Wallace, 21, an outfielder on the team, and Anton Maxwell, 22, a pitcher on OSU's 2007 national college championship team, both entered into plea agreements. They pleaded guilty in Benton County Circuit Court to recklessly endangering another, a Class A misdemeanor. In exchange, a Class A felony charge of unlawful use of a weapon and another misdemeanor, criminal mischief, were dropped in the plea deal.

Jorge Reyes, 20, a sophomore starting pitcher, also has been charged and is expected to enter into a plea agreement at his next court appearance on Aug. 26.

Corvallis police say that the three fired .22-caliber rifle bullets into a neighbor's house - one into a bedroom - during some late-night target shooting on March 18. The bullets also struck a car parked behind that house in a neighborhood north of campus.

Two people were in the house when it was struck by bullets, but neither was injured.

In addition to jail time, Wallace and Maxwell will be on probation for a year and must serve 20 hours of community service by Nov. 30. They also must attend a firearms safety class.

Defense attorneys John Rich and Kirk Tibbetts both described their clients as good citizens who made an error in judgment.

District Attorney John Haroldson agreed with Rich and Tibbetts' characterization of Wallace and Maxwell and said they were both very cooperative, willing to take responsibility, and they did not intend to shoot the house. But he added that the seriousness of the potential for injury - or worse - made this a crime that calls for a jail sentence.

Judge Locke Williams will allow both to serve their sentences in two time periods. They were ordered to report to the Benton County Jail on Wednesday through July 21, and then would be released until July 25, when they will return and serve the remainder of their sentences.

The request to break up the jail sentence, agreed upon by attorneys, was granted due to scheduling conflicts Williams deemed to be appropriate.

Wallace is playing baseball with the Corvallis Knights, an activity his attorney, John Rich, called "a productive thing." Maxwell's attorney, Kirk Tibbetts, said Maxwell has returned to school and is working for his landlord after an injury sidelined his baseball career.

Both Wallace and Maxwell apologized to the court for their part in the incident.

In court on Wednesday, Williams explained his support of a jail sentence as part of the plea agreement.

"Let's call this what it was," Williams said. "It was monumental stupidity … With first-time offenders, we don't often let them see the inside of a jail. We may be doing them a disservice. If you haven't already had a wake-up call, this will be it."