SALT LAKE CITY—A former University of Utah football player was sentenced Monday to a year in jail for beating a teen-ager in the head with a baseball bat at a party last fall.
Sean Patrick O'Keefe, 19, apologized for the assault that left 17-year-old Nathan Pehrson with multiple skull fractures, intracranial bleeding and several broken teeth from the blow.
Judge Paul Maughan told O'Keefe that an apology was not sufficient retribution and ordered the 19-year-old to spend a year in the Salt Lake County Jail.
"You have unalterably changed the life of the victim and his family," Maughan said.
The victim's father, Brad Pehrson, said his son still suffers from severe headaches and lives in fear of suffering another blow to the head, which could be lethal. University Hospital doctors who treated the boy said they were amazed he survived the beating.
The attack occurred Sept. 18 when a party spilled out onto the street and several altercations occurred.
Prosecutor Paul Parker said witness accounts of Pehrson's role in the fight vary. Parker attributed the discrepancies to intoxication and a dark street strewn with people.
O'Keefe, who was listed as a freshman defensive end for the Utes, faced a possible 10-year prison term, but Parker said prison should be reserved for the worst offenders. He called O'Keefe someone that could be saved and asked for the one-year jail term.
Defense attorney Ronald Yengich urged the judge to agree with the four months of imprisonment recommended by Corrections Department evaluators. Yengich noted that O'Keefe had been punished already by being expelled from the university and losing his football scholarship. Yengich also admitted that O'Keefe overreacted but that there was an element of self-defense to his actions.
The judge said O'Keefe could report to jail on May 8, which allows him to complete his current classes at Salt Lake Community College. Upon his release, O'Keefe must complete 36 months probation, which includes 200 hours of community service, a mental health evaluation, payment of $2,500 in restitution and attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous.
The Associated Press
