Why the Jayson Williams Sentencing Is So Disgusting

Former NBA star Jayson Williams was sentenced to five years in prison for killing his limo driver, Costas Christofi, and then trying to cover it up.

The sickening part is that the crime occurred eight years ago and he will be eligible for parole in 18 months.

Williams has been a free man for nearly a decade—in the prime of his life—after shooting a person dead and immediately trying to frame the man for his own death. He put the shotgun in Christofi's hands and told witnesses to lie about what they had seen.

Just recently, Williams crashed his car and was arrested for DUI. This model citizen will likely be on the streets again two summers from now.

All I can think of is Plaxico Burress, a man with—to my knowledge—no prior criminal record serving TWO years in prison for accidentally shooting himself in the leg.

There are similarities in these cases: a high-profile athlete, an accidental shooting, and possibly an attempted cover-up (the journey Plaxico's gun took after the incident is a bit mysterious).

However, it ends there.

Burress shot himself and killed no one. There was no other victim.

Williams's case is infinitely more despicable. What can be more selfish and/or ruthless than thinking about yourself the second after accidentally shooting someone in the chest?

He wasn't worried about his driver, who was lying on his floor covered in blood. He instantly thought of himself, placing the gun in Christofi's hands in an attempted cover-up.

Sure, there's no doubt that both Williams and Burress were/are extremely stupid. But Williams was just plain gruesome.

Yet, it is Burress who will likely spend more time in prison. And he was put in jail months after his incident. Williams got to live freely for eight years and tack a DUI on to his record, once again endangering the lives of others.

It's cases like these in which the judicial system can be bewildering.