Former basketball star is given another chance

5/28/2014
BLADE STAFF

Asking the court for “a second and last chance,” former Scott High School basketball player Jermul Richardson was given that chance Tuesday.

Lucas County Common Pleas Judge James Bates placed Richardson, 19, of 1800 McCord Rd. on community control for five years and imposed a $500 fine for robbing two cab drivers. The judge warned him that he would face four years in prison on each count if he violated the terms of his probation.

“You know better,” the judge told Richardson. “You are a better person than this. How you got yourself involved in this, I’ll never know. I am going to give you a very short leash.”

Richardson entered an Alford plea April 15 to two counts of robbery for an Aug. 14 holdup of a Checker cab driver in the 3100 block of Warsaw Street and an Aug. 16 robbery of a Black & White cab driver in the 1000 block of Baker Street. In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit to committing a crime, but acknowledges evidence is sufficient for a conviction that could result in a more severe sentence. The court treats it as a guilty plea.

Judge Bates ordered that Richardson either work or go to school full-time and told him to have no contact with co-defendants Arvell Harris and Kesean Harris. For their roles in the holdups, Arvell Harris previously was sentenced to three years in prison, while Kesean Harris received a four-year sentence.