KU's Rayford sentenced to probation / LJWorld.com

Archive for Thursday, April 13, 2000

The football player’s attorney contested the reports that Dion Rayford was stuck in the drive-through window.

April 13, 2000

Former Kansas University defensive end Dion Rayford pleaded guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge of criminal damage to property.

In doing so, he received a sentence of a year of probation and ended the spectacle that began last Nov. 18 with Rayford's confrontation with employees of Taco Bell, 1408 W. 23rd.

They charged that Rayford attempted to crawl into the restaurant's drive-through window after a chalupa - a taco-like product - was left out of his order.

In Douglas County District Judge Paula Martin's courtroom for a pretrial status hearing, Assistant Dist. Atty. Dave Zabel announced Rayford had agreed to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge. Prosecutors agreed to drop charges of disorderly conduct and open container.

Rayford, clad in a white short-sleeved shirt and black denim pants, said little more than "yes" or "no" as Martin asked if he understood his right to a trial. Rayford's court-appointed attorney, J.C. Gilroy, then explained what his client did and disputed the popular version of the story.

"His contention is that the food product known as the chalupa was not ordered," Gilroy said of Rayford. "His contention is that he was not stuck in the window. We are talking about a man his size and a window 14 inches wide."

Gilroy said Rayford, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds, did get into an argument with employees without explaining why. Gilroy said when the employees left the area and closed the window, Rayford pushed on it to reopen it and knocked it out of the tracks, damaging it.

The attorney asked the judge to not sentence the football player to jail time but rather to probation.

"He was suspended from the team. He had to have his phone number changed. He has been the butt of jokes on national TV," Gilroy said. "While these don't mitigate the facts, we ask that the court take that into consideration. Unfortunately this may forever tarnish his accomplishments."

Martin sentenced Rayford to six months in jail if he fails to meet the requirements of the ordered 12 months of supervised probation. He was also ordered to write a letter of apology to the Taco Bell employees and pay $579.17 in restitution for the damaged window.

Tom Meagher's phone message number is 832-7187. His e-mail address is tmeagher@ljworld.com.