COLUMBUS, Ohio - Former Ohio State cornerback Bradley Roby pleaded guilty to an amended charge Tuesday morning, ending his drunken-driving case four days after he took to Twitter to deny any wrongdoing.
Roby pleaded guilty to physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol during an arraignment hearing. After being charged with operating a motor vehicle while impaired last week, he tweeted that he "wasn't drunk, wasn't driving" and attached a picture of a police scan that showed his blood-alcohol content was .008, or one-tenth of Ohio's legal limit.
After the plea, Roby was sentenced to 180 days in jail, which was suspended on the condition that he participate a three-day driver-intervention program. Roby's attorney, S. Michael Miller, told the court he planned to start the program on Thursday.
On Monday, Columbus police released a 911 call in which a witness who had been in Columbus's Arena District said he saw a car matching the description of the one Roby was driving "almost hit some kids on the sidewalk." The initial report of the incident last week by WBNS-TV in Columbus matched the caller's claim that the driver of the car had parked and was passed out.
Roby had denied those reports on Twitter, saying he'd lost respect for the media.
Roby was arrested last summer after an alleged late-night incident at a Bloomington, Ind., bar, though those charges were later dropped -- with the condition that Roby avoid legal trouble through August 2014. How that case may be affected by this one remains to be seen.
A top athlete and cornerback prospect in this year's draft, Roby has been projected since last summer as a potential first-round pick, despite what many draft experts considered an average 2013 season. Last week, Roby was announced as one of the 30 players who will attend the NFL Draft in New York City, which begins March 8.
