A former Rutgers football player faces sentencing in June in an assault in which three other players were also arrested.
NEW BRUNSWICK -- A former Rutgers University football player will be sentenced in June for an assault on a man in New Brunswick in which three other former Rutgers players were also arrested.
The other three players are being permitted into a probationary program that could result in the charges against them being dropped from their records.
Delon Stephenson, 23, pleaded guilty in April to a reduced charge of third-degree aggravated assault for a fight on Delafield Street in April 2015, according to court records.
Stephenson was originally indicted on a second-degree charge, but that was apparently reduced under a plea-agreement.
The other defendants -- Nardir Barnwell, Razohnn Gross, and Daryl Stephenson, Delon Stephenson's brother -- have all been granted permission to enter the Pre-Trial Intervention Program (PTI), according to court records. They were charged with rioting and conspiracy to commit riot.
Under PTI the three men would avoid incarceration and would serve terms on probation. If they complete those terms without getting into further legal trouble, the charges would be removed from their records. PTI is only available to first-time offenders.
Two other former Rutgers football players, Tejay Johnson and Ruhann Peele, were also charged in the assault, but both still face charges in other, unrelated crimes.
Peele was arrested last October for a separate assault in New Brunswick. Johnson and four other former students, Andre Boggs, Dylan Mastriana, Jianan Chen and Kaylanna Ricks, all face robbery charges for attacks on students in their apartments and dorm rooms in April and May of 2015.
In a court hearing last March, Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves said the plea-deal included Delon Stephenson serving sentence in the Middlesex County jail, and then being placed on probation. The original second-degree charge probably would have carried a prison term.
Nieves previously said Stephenson was the "main guy" in the April 25, 2015 fight on Delafield Street, which apparently was an altercation over a parking space. The victim suffered a broken jaw, authorities said.
Delon Stephenson was a safety on the university football team. Barnwell was a cornerback, Gross played fullback and Daryl Stephenson was a defensive tackle, thought he was off the team when the assault occurred.
Johnson, Ruhann and the other former students still face their separate charges.
Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.