Former Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Josh Brent has been sentenced to probation following his intoxicated manslaughter conviction earlier this week in the 2012 death of former teammate Jerry Brown Jr.
ESPN reporter Calvin Watkins is reporting Brent, 25, was given a 10-year-suspended sentence in which he gets probation for the full amount of his sentence. ESPN added Brent is expected to spend just 180 days behind bars.
Jurors deliberated for days before rendering their sentence, which could have landed Brent in jail for as much as 20-years. Brown, a practice squad player for the Cowboys, died instantly after he and Brent were driving home from a night of partying and the veteran player lost control of his Mercedes and crashed along a suburban Dallas highway.
Brown and Brent were best friends who previously played at the University of Illinois together. During the trial, Brown's mother, Stacey Jackson, testified on Brent's behalf, telling the jury that she has forgiven him.
"He is still responsible, but we can't go on in life holding a grudge," Jackson testified. "We all make mistakes." She later added her son and Brent thought of each other as brothers and she still thinks of him as a son.
At the time of the crash, prosecutors revealed Brent's blood alcohol level was 0.18 percent, more than two times the legal limit of 0.08 percent for driving. Prosecutors also reminded jurors that Brent has a 2009 drunken driving conviction in Illinois, where his blood alcohol level was 0.11 percent.
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