Mike McNeil, the former Auburn safety accused of a March 2011 armed robbery, plead guilty to robbery in the first degree and was arrested the morning of Monday, April 8.
Circuit Judge Chris Hughes sentenced McNeil to serve three years. His sentence was 15 years with a three-year split. Upon release he will serve three-years probation. McNeil was also fined $2,000.
He was given four-days jail credit.
McNeil met with his lawyer Ben Hand and U. W. Clemen retired federal judge out of Birmingham, reviewed the evidence and decided it would be in McNeil's best interest to enter a plea.
"Mike McNeil agreed and thought we had some defenses we could present at court, but in all likelihood, based on the previous trial, he could be convicted and face a much tougher sentence."
Hughes said the state would be able to prove guilt based on the evidence presented by Assistant District Attorney Kisha Abercrombie.
"He felt like there was enough evidence to convict him and the risk of what a mandatory sentence would be, a mandatory sentence for armed robbery starts at 21, so the risk of a conviction versus the three years that they offered him was far outweighing the risk of going to trial," Hand said.
This trial is associated with the March 2011 arrest of four former Auburn football players. McNeil's trial was the second slated for these arrests.
Antonio Goodwin, the first of these trials, was found guilty and convicted of first-degree robbery on Tuesday, June 19, 2012. He is currently serving 15 years.
Shaun Kitchens and Dakota Mosley were also arrested for their alleged involvement.
Kitchens and Mosley await trial in early June.
As part of his plea deal, McNeil is ordered to cooperate with the district attorney's office in these cases. If called to testify, McNeil is expected to do so truthfully.
In the courtroom were six members of McNeil's family.
"They're handling it well," Hand said. "They're a good Christian family. They're praying for him. They believe in him, and they know this is just the best outcome for him."
McNeil's daughter was not present in court today, but he went to see her Sunday night and told her he would see her in three years, Hand said.
For court, McNeil sported a new shaven head, following Hand's recommendation to cut his hair.
McNeil has one year left of school and maintains this was a simple prank.
"There was some evidence that there was that I think could have come out at trial," Hand said. "Everybody seemed to know everybody, as far as the owner of the house. Well, there were people there that most people didn't realize were going to be there."
Before the robbery McNeil was a senior in communications at Auburn.
"If you look back at Mike's history, he has a real good history working with fellowship of Christian athletes, did a lot of good things working with children in the hospitals, always had a good reputation," Hand said. "What could be portrayed as a possibly a prank ended up very bad. He was distressed about it. Anytime you're facing going to prison that's tough. He understood what the law was and what could have happened."
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