SEATTLE (July 19, 2006) -- Seattle Seahawks right tackle Sean Locklear has reached an agreement with prosecutors on a charge of assaulting his girlfriend last January.
Locklear will perform community service for the next two years.
"Among other things, the agreement requires Mr. Locklear to perform community service, obtain an evaluation, and pay court costs," read a statement issued by Locklear's attorney, Jon Scott Fox.
Locklear was facing a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $5,000 fine for the gross misdemeanor.
"Although I felt that Sean's case should be heard by a jury, Sean did not want to put his girlfriend through a public trial," Fox said. "And he was also concerned that the trial would be a distraction to his team on the eve of camp."
The defending NFC champions begin training camp July 28 in Cheney, Wash.
Locklear was arrested Jan. 15, hours after his team's 20-10 playoff win over the Washington Redskins.
Seattle police said three witnesses told officers Locklear grabbed his girlfriend on the sidewalk as they argued after he reportedly got upset with her for dancing with another man at a nearby nightspot.
Officers wrote that they saw red marks on her neck and chest, but she began weeping and refused to provide more information, insisting, "He didn't do anything." She also declined medical attention and would not let officers photograph the marks on her body or provide a written statement, according to a police report.
Locklear made a public apology and started later that week against the Carolina Panthers in the NFC title game. He also started in the Seahawks' Super Bowl loss to Pittsburgh.
