By: Ed Moore III, WLJS Anchor edmoorewljs@yahoo.com
(Orlando, Florida) -- Two more defendants entered pleas in a Florida court Wednesday for the 2011 hazing death of Florida A&M University band student Robert Champion, WLJS News had learned.
22-year-old Jessie Ferguson Maurice Baskin has pled no contest to manslaughter and will be sentenced in February. He faces up to nine years in prison.
In a plea deal with prosecutors, 21-year-old Harold Finley has pled guilty to felony hazing after Flordia State Attorney Jeffrey L. Ashton, the same man who prosecuted the Casey Anthony trial, says Finley was present for Champion's fatal hazing, but did not physically assault him.
Finley, who was originally charged with manslaughter and misdemeanor hazing charges, was sentenced by Orange County Circuit Judge Marc L. Lubet to one-year of house arrest, four years of probation and 100 hours of community service. He is also required to complete an anti-hazing course, graduate from the college he is enrolled in and continue cooperating with prosecutors.
In regards to Baskin, State Attorney Ashton says Baskin was "consistently identified" in beating Champion with his hands and feet aboard a bus parked outside an Orlando hotel following a football game on November 19, 2011.
Lawyers for Baskin, who could be the first of all the defendants in the case to go prison, will try to negotiate a lighter sentence come February.
15 people from that day have been charged in connection with Champion's death. Eight have now have accepted deals. Seven of those eight defendants have been sentenced to combinations of probation and community service.
Six defendants now remain in the case.
Those defendants have their cases have set for trial, but they will continue to discuss possible plea agreements with prosecutors.
Caleb Jackson, another defendant who pleaded no contest to manslaughter in April, has yet to be sentenced.
Champion's death gained national media attention regarding violence associated with collegiate hazing, which in turn, led to the firing of the university's band director, the resignation FAMU's president James Ammons and a 22-month suspension of the school's marching band, "The Marching 100", which returned September 1.
This report was made through WLJS News in Jacksonville, Alabama on 11/13/2013 at 11:17 P.M.
WLJS anchor Ed Moore III contributed to this report.
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