4 Bonnies players fined $250 for role in stabbing

By foxsports
Published

Four St. Bonaventure basketball players were fined $250 each on Monday after they pleaded guilty to one charge of disorderly conduct in connection to an on-campus fight in which two men were stabbed.

Allegany town court judge David Porter also ordered junior guards Malcolm Eleby and Lewis Leonard, sophomore forward Da'Quan Cook and freshman forward Brett Roseboro to pay $125 each in court surcharges. Disorderly conduct is a noncriminal violation which ranks below the level of a misdemeanor

The ruling was made after a plea deal was struck with the Cattaraugus County district attorney's office, the players' lawyer Brian O'Connell said.

Assistant district attorney Amber Kerling was not immediately available for comment because she was in court.

St. Bonaventure athletic department spokesman Patrick Pierson said the school will now conduct its own internal judicial review to determine whether to punish the players further. Pierson said the result of the review will not be made public.

Leonard is not expected to be part of the review because he has elected to leave the basketball program after announcing his intention to transfer last week.

The school is located about a 90-minute drive south of Buffalo.

James Chatmon and Rameek Boyd were stabbed during a fight at about 3 a.m. on March 21, New York State police said. Boyd is a member of the Jamestown Community College basketball team. Chatmon had been dismissed from the Jamestown team for academic reasons. Both were treated at a hospital and released.

Police wouldn't say exactly how the players were connected to the fight or the stabbing. No details into what happened were presented in court.

``We're glad that no one was seriously hurt as a result of the incident,'' O'Connell said. ``The players are glad they can put this behind them and can continue pursuing their education and basketball careers.''

The players were also initially cited for harassment, also a noncriminal violation, which was dropped as part of the agreement.