Boxer Jermain Taylor avoided trial by pleading guilty to nine felony charges Tuesday for shooting his cousin, threatening a family by firing a gun and punching another man.
But Taylor also got permission to spend Christmas with his family in Little Rock after being allowed by Circuit Judge Leon Johnson to go to Florida 10 weeks ago. While in Florida, he trained for a comeback fight and was required to stay out of trouble while awaiting the first of three now-canceled trials.
The first trial was scheduled to begin Thursday.
Taylor's handlers say the Olympian, 37, is ready to return to the ring, defense attorney Hubert Alexander told the judge.
"He's been training pretty hard. They're ready for him to fight," the lawyer said. "He says he's ready to fight."
At his 12th circuit-court appearance Tuesday, Taylor pleaded guilty to six counts of aggravated assault, two counts of terroristic threatening and a second-degree battery charge. Each charge is a Class D felony that carries up to six years in prison.
Taylor also admitted to misdemeanor marijuana possession, for which punishment is up to a year in jail, but that count will not add any time to any prison sentence he might receive.
He faces up to 54 years in prison when he's sentenced April 19, a date set more than four months out so his victims, many of whom now live out of state, have time to make travel arrangements to testify.
"I want to make sure they are here. I prefer they be here," the judge said. "I want the victims heard on this."
In exchange for Taylor's guilty plea, chief deputy prosecutor John Johnson agreed to let the judge decide Taylor's sentence instead of a jury. Johnson told the judge that the victims were informed about the plea deal and endorsed it.
The prosecutor also reduced the most serious charge against the former champion, a count of first-degree battery for wounding his cousin in August 2014, to second-degree battery.
The prosecutor also agreed to drop a sentencing enhancement for committing crimes in front of children that could have added up to 10 years to any prison sentence.
With no criminal history, Taylor qualifies for probation, and any sentence imposed will be reduced by the 116 days -- about 4½ months -- he spent in custody before the judge let him go to Florida.
Ahead of the April sentencing Taylor will be the subject of an inquiry by the judge's staff.
The staff members will review Taylor's background, including his health, upbringing and potential drug use, to make a punishment recommendation to the judge based on state sentencing guidelines.
But the judge is not bound by that recommendation and will have final say on the sentence.
Taylor returned to Florida after Tuesday's 15-minute court appearance, but the judge agreed to let him return to Little Rock for a three- or four-day Christmas visit with his family as long as he provides advance notice of the trip.
He'll stay with a sister and won't be allowed to leave her home, the judge said.
"He'll stay at the house," the judge said. "If anybody wants to visit him, they'll have to go over there."
The judge has been concerned about leaving Taylor unsupervised since he allowed the boxer to go to Florida on Sept. 21 and begin training, although he had no fight scheduled.
The judge said Taylor could not return to Little Rock without his permission and has ordered Taylor to be with either his trainer, Pat Burns, or a member of the training staff at all times.
But the judge said Tuesday that he wouldn't make Burns spend Christmas away from his family in Florida.
Taylor's bail bondsman, Ken Gangluff, will pick him up at the airport when he arrives and take him back to the airport when it's time to leave, the judge said. A date for the visit has not been set.
The judge also said Taylor could go wherever he needs to if his promoters can find him a fight.
The cost of Taylor's training has been picked up by millionaire boxing manager Al Haymon, who also represents Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Taylor was represented by four lawyers at Tuesday's hearing, Alexander, his son Christian Alexander, Jimmy Morris Jr. and Taylor's longtime personal attorney, Allison Allred.
A representative of Haymon's attended the proceeding, as did Andrew Meadors, a longtime friend and former business manager, and several members of Taylor's family, including his cousin, Tyrone DaWayne Hinton. After the hearing, Hinton was clamoring to pose for a photograph with Taylor, despite filing a lawsuit against the boxer over the shooting.
Taylor's crimes took place over about 8½ months between late August 2014 and mid-May 2015, as described by the prosecutor Tuesday:
• Aug. 26, 2014, second-degree battery and terroristic threatening for shooting Hinton and threatening the life of his son, Aharon Coley of Little Rock, at Taylor's 39-acre estate outside North Little Rock and Maumelle.
Prosecutors said the men argued about Taylor's training and that the boxer went into his house, got a gun, went back outside and started shooting at the men, injuring Hinton, of Jacksonville.
• Jan. 17, terroristic threatening and five counts of aggravated assault for putting a gun to the head of Thelton Pegro Smith and firing the weapon around Smith's wife and three children just after Little Rock's annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. parade. Taylor had gotten angry after one of the Smith children, who had been allowed to hold Taylor's championship belt, dropped it. The incident occurred in the 1700 block of Wright Avenue where Taylor owns a gym. He had a small amount of marijuana in his pocket when police arrested him.
• May 13, second-degree battery for inflicting serious injury on Jason Isaac Condon while the men were in a drug rehabilitation program. Condon was knocked unconscious and suffered facial fractures. The men had been sharing a cabin at the Oasis Renewal Center on Cooper Orbit Road in Little Rock.
A Section on 12/02/2015