Boxer Jermain Taylor pleads guilty in three cases

Jermain Taylor arrives at court Tuesday before a hearing where he pleaded guilty in three cases.
Jermain Taylor arrives at court Tuesday before a hearing where he pleaded guilty in three cases.

Professional boxer Jermain Taylor pleaded guilty Tuesday in three cases, and a Pulaski County judge then agreed to conditions allowing the former middleweight champion to return to the ring.

The pleas leave Taylor's sentencing up Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Leon Johnson. Court records after the hearing listed a sentencing date for April 19.

In the meantime, Taylor will remain under court restrictions requiring the boxer to be supervised by his training team in Ocala, Fla., Johnson said.

Taylor will be allowed to leave Florida to fight, and he can stay at his sister's house in Little Rock for several days around Christmas, so long as the court and Taylor's bondsman are notified ahead of time, Johnson said.

Taylor's pleas came two days ahead of a scheduled trial in a case in which the boxer was accused of firing a gun in the air and threatening a family at a Martin Luther King Day parade in Little Rock.

Prosecutors agreed Tuesday to remove an enhancement to the charge that had been added because the case involved a child. That enhancement could have increased penalties. Prosecutors also reduced a battery charge to a Class D felony in a separate case in which Taylor was accused of shooting his cousin. In the third case, Taylor pleaded guilty to a battery charge after being accused in May of hitting a fellow patient at a rehabilitation center.

Patrick Burns, Taylor's boxing trainer, told ArkansasOnline that Taylor is "ready to fight today."

See Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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