(WWJ) Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore has been given a probation deferred sentence, with mandatory counseling, on two misdemeanor charges.
Moore was facing up to a potential of six months in jail for trespassing, as well as malicious use of a telecommunications device for the December 10 incident involving his former assistant Paige Shiver that led to his dismissal as UM's head football coach.
He ultimately pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts, two months ago.
In the end, Judge Cedric Simpson on Tuesday ordered a 180 days jail sentence, with credit for three days served on the trespassing misdemeanor, and 30 days credit for three days served on the malicious use of the telecommunications device. However, that jail time will only come if Moore does not follow through with his court-ordered counseling.
Moore spoke in court briefly when given the opportunity, saying:
"Your Honor, first of all, I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for His grace and guidance during this difficult time.
"I want to thank my beautiful wife, Kelly, for her support, her strength, and standing by me.
"I want to thank this court and its staff for their time and consideration.
"I'm grateful to my attorney, Ellen Michaels, for her guidance.
"I've taken this process very seriously and worked closely with the probation department to prepare for today's sentence. I'm ready to proceed. Thank you."
In rendering the sentence, Judge Simpson noted the reaction of Kelly Moore to this incident as having a big impact on his sentencing decision, in particular the fact that Kelly stood by her husband with grace, according to the judge, and also wrote a letter in regard to what she was hoping to see with sentencing.
The letter, Simpson said, "certainly had the biggest impact on this court and what I should impose."
If Moore follows through with the court-ordered counseling there will be no jail time and these charges will be dismissed, WWJ's Jon Hewett reported. The court will review the case in October 2027, to see where that stands.
While Moore declined to comment to reporters outside the courthouse, Michaels said she does think this was a fair sentence.
"I think the judge did an excellent job," Michaels said. "I think the prosecutor's office was fair in how they handled this case once it was charged, and as the judge stated so eloquently from the bench that this outcome was a result of deep digging into the facts."
"Dismissing the charges that weren't supported by the facts of the law, coming to an outcome that is some people like to say that nobody is happy with, but here we are and this chapter is closed and everybody can move forward."
