Football: Former Cottonwood LB pleads guilty in Colorado assault case
Former Cottonwood linebacker Lynn Katoa pleaded guilty Wednesday for assaulting a fellow Colorado University student last spring, but will not have to serve jail time, it appears.
Katoa, a five-star recruit who graduated early from Cottonwood so he would be in Boulder in time to participate in spring drills, was one of the most-recruited football players in state history last winter.
He has been suspended from playing for the Buffaloes this season, but the deferred sentence he received in a Boulder courtroom means he can re-join the team in time for the 2009 season.
Katoa, 19, was arrested in March after he allegedly assualted a fellow student while holding a rock in his hand during an off-campus party. Katoa slammed 22-year-old Cameron Shafer into a wall of Shafer's apartment and struck him on the head because Katoa incorrectly believed Shafer was involved in a Taser incident outside the apartment.
The Taser had been fired at one of Katoa's friends, former CU linebacker Justin Nonu, and Katoa received an "indirect shock" from the Taser, according to his attorney. The man who fired the Taser left the scene and has never been found.
Katoa, who apologized for his March actions in Wednesday's hearing, was sentenced to 60 hours of community service, placed on monitored sobriety and ordered to have no contact with the victim.
Katoa, who was immediately suspended from the team by coach Dan Hawkins and by CU's Office of Judicial Affairs for the spring and summer semesters, will not play for the Buffaloes this fall. However, because his sentence was deferred, he won't have a felony on his record if he stays clear of trouble for the three years.
That clears the way for him to re-join the team in time for the 2009 season, Hawkins has said.
-- Jay Drew
Katoa, a five-star recruit who graduated early from Cottonwood so he would be in Boulder in time to participate in spring drills, was one of the most-recruited football players in state history last winter.
He has been suspended from playing for the Buffaloes this season, but the deferred sentence he received in a Boulder courtroom means he can re-join the team in time for the 2009 season.
Katoa, 19, was arrested in March after he allegedly assualted a fellow student while holding a rock in his hand during an off-campus party. Katoa slammed 22-year-old Cameron Shafer into a wall of Shafer's apartment and struck him on the head because Katoa incorrectly believed Shafer was involved in a Taser incident outside the apartment.
The Taser had been fired at one of Katoa's friends, former CU linebacker Justin Nonu, and Katoa received an "indirect shock" from the Taser, according to his attorney. The man who fired the Taser left the scene and has never been found.
Katoa, who apologized for his March actions in Wednesday's hearing, was sentenced to 60 hours of community service, placed on monitored sobriety and ordered to have no contact with the victim.
Katoa, who was immediately suspended from the team by coach Dan Hawkins and by CU's Office of Judicial Affairs for the spring and summer semesters, will not play for the Buffaloes this fall. However, because his sentence was deferred, he won't have a felony on his record if he stays clear of trouble for the three years.
That clears the way for him to re-join the team in time for the 2009 season, Hawkins has said.
-- Jay Drew
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