"[Sapp] lucked out because he was in the city of Phoenix, which means he was in [the jurisdiction of] Phoenix Municipal Court," Blake told The Huffington Post. "Phoenix is unique in that it's the only justice court that offers diversion [programming] for first-time and occasionally second-time offenses for both johns and prostitutes."
Warren Sapp, a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers star, recently accepted a plea deal, agreeing to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges: soliciting a prostitute and assault. In exchange for pleading guilty, Sapp will be able to avoid jail time as long as he attends anger management classes and completes something called a Prostitution Solicitation Diversion Program.
Charges were filed against Sapp back in February, when authorities alleged that he got violent with women in a fight over money. The police report says that Sapp paid each of the two women $300 for sexual favors.
After hearing of the allegations, the NFL Network dropped Sapp, who had been working as an analyst for about seven years.
Arizona has a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 days in jail for all convictions involving solicitation, but in Sapp’s case, he was able to avoid jail. Blake, commenting to The Huffington Post, says that the “break” isn’t owing to Sapp’s star status, but rather his location.
Sapp was in the city of Phoenix at the time of the alleged offenses. The city of Phoenix is the only justice court that offers diversion programs for first-time (and in some cases, second-time) solicitation offenders.
Blake emphasized that Sapp’s deal isn’t any better than anyone else would have gotten given the same circumstances. You can read the full story of Sapp’s plea deal on The Huffington Post.