Jets defensive lineman Kenrick Ellis has to serve 45 days in jail for assault and battery, but he gets to time those 45 days exactly the way he wants.
A judge in Virginia today sentenced Ellis to 179 days in jail but suspended 89 days of that sentence. Of the remaining 90 days, Ellis’s lawyer told the Associated Press, he’ll only have to serve 45 of them. And those 45 days will be scheduled so that Ellis begins his sentence on June 15, the day after the last day of the Jets’ last minicamp. He’ll then be out of jail by the end of July, just in time to get to training camp.
The rest of us can only hope that if we ever have to do 45 days in jail, we can time those 45 days just the way we want so as not to interfere with our jobs.
Ellis was originally charged with a felony stemming from a fight at Hampton University, and he could have faced up to 20 years in prison, and he also faced deportation because he is not a U.S. citizen. Instead, he reached a plea deal for a misdemeanor assault and battery charge. He is also being sued by the victim in the case.
There’s no word yet on any NFL discipline for Ellis, who played in five games last year and started two after the Jets took him in the third round of the NFL draft.