Baylor defensive end Sam Ukwuachu was found guilty Thursday night by a jury of his peers for the October 2013 sexual assault of a former Baylor student. Ukwuachu could have faced up to 20 years in prison for the sexual assault, but Ukwuachu was sentenced to six months behind bars and 10-years probation. He sobbed as the verdict was read, according to CNN.
This entire case had remained hushed until this month, with both the media and public having no idea this football player in a major program was even in trouble with the law. Ukwuachu was charged with sexually assaulting a former Baylor student on Oct. 20, 2013.
Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said police interviewed the victim and filed a report but suspended the case without arresting Ukwuachu. Prosecutors Hilary Laborde and Robert Moody then issued subpoenas for Ukwuachu's records from Boise State and for the testimonies of a Boise police office, an assistant athletic director, Ukwuachu's former roommate and a woman with whom he reportedly had an abusive relationship, according to The Waco Tribune.
The red flags were there, as Ukwuachu, 22, transferred to Baylor in 2013 from Boise State. The defensive end never suited up for the Bears, who sought a waiver for Ukwuachu to play immediately after his transfer. Ukwuachu was removed from the roster in 2014. He was dismissed from the team for unspecified reasons, though accounts of his exit from multiple camps were on display in court, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Baylor head coach Art Briles said on Friday that he was not aware of Ukwuachu's past, but Chris Petersen, now the head coach at the University of Washington, was Boise State's head football coach when Ukwuachu played. In a statement Friday, he said he had reached out to Briles about Ukwuachu transferring.
"After Sam Ukwuachu was dismissed from the Boise State football program and expressed an interest in transferring to Baylor, I initiated a call with Coach Art Briles," Peterson said in the statement. "In that conversation, I thoroughly apprised Coach Briles of the circumstances surrounding Sam's disciplinary record and dismissal," according to CNN.
