A former Rutgers football player will be sentenced Friday for his role in an assault in New Brunswick in April 2015.
NEW BRUNSWICK -- A former Rutgers University football player is expected to be sentenced Friday for his role in a fight in April 2015 in the city that left one man with a broken jaw.
Delon Stephenson, 23, pleaded guilty two months ago to a reduced charge of third-degree aggravated assault for a fight on Delafield Street that authorities said started over a parking space.
Stephenson was originally indicted on a second-degree charge, but that was reduced as part of his plea agreement.
Prosecutors have charged it was Stephenson, of Sayreville, who threw the punch in the assault, which involved six former Rutgers football players.
In March 2016, Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves, who will sentence Stephenson, indicated at a status conference the plea offer from the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office was to a third-degree charge and they would recommend Stephenson be placed on probation after he serve a certain amount of time in the Middlesex County jail. A second-degree crime would put him in state prison for about seven years.
Stephenson's guilty plea will now result in his three other co-defendants, his brother, Daryl Stephenson, Razohnn Gross, and Nadir Barnwell, being able to enter pre-trial intervention, a probationary program for non-violent first-time offenders.
The prosecutor, who must sign off on any application for pre-trial intervention, made their admission to the program, designed to be rehabilitative, contingent on Stephenson pleading guilty.
Under PTI, Daryl Stephenson, Gross and Barnwell, would plead guilty to an offense, but would have their records cleared after a few years if they stay out of trouble and would be spared jail time.
Delon Stephenson was not eligible for PTI because he was originally charged with a second-degree offense while the others were charged with third- and fourth-degree crimes.
A fifth former player involved in the Delafield assault, Ruhann Peele's case did not hinge on Stephenson's plea because he is facing another indictment on charges unrelated to the Delafield case and has also received a plea offer, according to prosecutors.
The sixth former player involved in the Delafield case, Tejay Johnson, is also facing indictment for several home invasion armed robberies in New Brunswick.
They were arrested in September 2015, along with several other former and then-current football players in what became a wide-ranging scandal that led to the firing of the university's football coach and athletic director.
Sue Epstein may be reached at sepstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @susan_epstein. Find NJ.com on Facebook.