Clarett had plea offer on charges

His fired attorney said he could have had a sentence as short as 11/2 years.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- A fired attorney for Maurice Clarett said Friday that a prosecutor offered a plea deal in July with a sentence as short as 11/2 years if the ex-Ohio State football standout admitted to a robbery charge.
Clarett was in court Friday for a hearing on outstanding issues in the robbery case. He is set to get to trial Sept. 18, pending a mental evaluation, on charges that he held up two people outside a Columbus bar early New Year's Day and took a cell phone from them.
It was not clear whether the plea deal was still on the table; the prosecutor would not comment Friday.
Lifts gag order
Judge David Fais said Friday he decided against prohibiting attorneys from speaking to the media. He had said last week he likely would issue a gag order after prosecutors criticized the defense for talking to reporters too much.
"I don't think the facts of this case rise to that level," Fais said.
Clarett, 22, spoke just once, responding "yes, sir" when Judge Fais asked if he understood the proceedings. He turned to smile at his mother and two friends who sat behind him.
Clarett also is charged in a highway chase with police earlier this month that ended with officers catching him with four loaded guns and wearing a bulletproof vest in his sport utility vehicle.
Met on plea deal
Fired attorney Bob Krapenc, who sat in court to watch Clarett's hearing, told reporters afterward that the former running back, Krapenc and his partner met in July with assistant prosecutor Doug Stead about a plea deal.
During the time Krapenc represented Clarett, the attorney said Clarett had not decided whether to accept the deal and admit to a felony robbery count in return for a five-year sentence with the option to apply for release after 11/2 years.
Prosecutors told the judge Friday that they had not received the defense witness list for Clarett's robbery trial.
Clarett's current defense attorneys said they were trying to find out more about the July meeting before finalizing their witness list because they might want to call to the stand those who attended.
Clarett's attorney Nick Mango, alleged during Friday's hearing Stead may have asked Clarett questions during the July meeting and suggested that alcohol was consumed, which he called "highly inappropriate" after he left the courtroom.
"Certainly, anyone who had an opportunity to talk to my client prior to my representation of my client is someone I need to talk to," Mango said.
Krapenc said he drank a beer in the office following the meeting. Clarett's attorney said his client did not drink any alcohol.
Nothing inappropriate happened
Stead, who is still prosecuting the case, told reporters nothing inappropriate was done during the July meeting and declined further comment.
Krapenc said he intends to send a letter to Clarett's attorneys, asking that they stop alleging that anything inappropriate happened during the meeting and issue a public retraction.
"I resent the fact that any attorney is trying to besmirch my name," Krapenc said.
Also at the hearing, the defense asked the judge to keep Clarett's mental health evaluation from prosecutors due to privacy concerns and because defense attorneys had not been consulted by the doctor performing the evaluation until after Clarett had been interviewed. Fais said he would review the evaluation before ruling on the request.
Clarett's attorneys said he has been in good spirits and was looking forward to visiting with his mother, his fiancee and his newborn daughter. They said he spends time in jail reading the Bible, exercising and reading letters from supporters.
"We're holding each other together," mother Michelle Clarett said after the hearing.