Jayson Williams Receives Five-Year Sentence

Jayson Williams was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for shooting and killing his limo driver in 2002.
Jayson Williams Receives Five-Year Sentence
2/23/2010
Updated:
2/24/2010

Jayson Williams, the former New Jersey Nets star, was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for shooting and killing his limo driver in 2002.

In January, Williams pleaded guilty on aggravated assault charges. After 18 months minimum, he will be eligible for parole.

He was acquitted of manslaughter charges in 2004 for the shooting, which was found to be accidental. Williams, 42, was showing off his gun collection to some friends while in his mansion in 2002, when he accidentally fired a shot from a shotgun that he thought wasn’t loaded.

Williams, in tears, apologized to Cristofi’s sister at the courtroom on Tuesday, according to an Associated Press report. In 2003, Williams paid over $2 million to limo driver Costas Cristofi’s family in a civil case. Last month, Williams was charged with driving while intoxicated after crashing his sport utility vehicle in New York City.