Former Michigan coach Sherrone Moore received 18 months of probation Tuesday after pleading no contest to misdemeanor charges of trespassing and malicious use of a telecom device in March.
Moore, 40, will avoid jail time in the December saga that followed the end of his tenure leading the Wolverines after a little over two full seasons.
“Frankly Mr. Moore, you had no right to do what you did,” District Court Judge Cedric Simpson told Moore. “I know she was placed in fear. It was a traumatic experience for you—it was certainly a traumatic experience for her—but you had no right to spread your pain to her.”
Simpson could theoretically have sentenced Moore to as many as six months in jail, but as the coach had no prior criminal record, such a punishment would’ve been unlikely.
Moore’s firing—and his reaction to it—shook college football
Back on Dec. 10, Michigan fired Moore for engaging in an improper long-term relationship with a staffer. Hours after news of Moore’s firing broke, police in Saline, Mich., arrested Moore on charges of felony third-degree home invasion, misdemeanor breaking and entering and misdemeanor stalking in a domestic relationship. These charges were eventually negotiated down to two misdemeanors, which Moore pled no contest to in March.
Paige Shiver, the staffer, told police after the fact that Moore—irate after his firing—entered her apartment, grabbed a butter knife and threatened to harm herself.
“The University of Michigan gave this man limitless power and emboldened him to do whatever he wanted for years with no accountability,” Shiver said in a statement following Moore’s sentencing via WXYZ-TV in Detroit. “I was threatened, and I feared for my life. Today’s sentence does not reflect the harm done to me or the objective evidence in this case.”
The events caused considerable soul searching around the University of Michigan’s athletic department, which has been beset in recent years by several scandals despite its competitive success. The Wolverines retained Jenner & Block to undertake an independent investigation of the athletic department; ESPN’s Dan Wetzel reported Tuesday that the findings of that investigation are expected to be made public in the spring.
When Michigan hired coach Kyle Whittingham away from Utah on Dec. 26, much was made of the coach’s no-nonsense approach and near-complete lack of off-field scandal with the Utes.
Simpson praised Moore’s wife, while the former coach spoke briefly
While sentencing Moore, Simpson went out of his way to praise Kelli, the coach’s wife, for her steadiness on the day of Moore’s arrest.
“The person who is saving you from the full wrath of this court is the person who you betrayed,” Simpson said. "When all of the circumstances are happening to her, and she is absorbing them in real time, she not once loses her focus, not once bats an eye to doubt you, not once wants something terrible to happen to you. ... I am amazed by you, Ms. Moore.”
Moore added his own brief statement, where via Wetzel he told Simpson he’s “taken this process very seriously.”
The former coach cannot use drugs or alcohol, possess firearms, or contact Shiver. Should he violate those terms, per Simpson, “all bets are off.”
More College Football from Sports Illustrated
- Kiffin Strikes Again, UNC Touts Malone As Development Guru, AD ‘Hot Board’ | Others Receiving Votes
- The College Football Playoff Would Like You to Abbreviate Its Name
- Iowa’s 2022 Tampering Case Resolution Proves NCAA’s Infractions Process Is Broken
- College Sports Multimedia Company Learfield Is Finalizing a Private Equity Deal—Here’s Why It Matters
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sherrone Moore Gets 18 Months’ Probation for Pair of Misdemeanors.
