Not happy with the punishment.
Former University of Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore was sentenced yesterday after pleading no contest last month to one charge of trespassing and one charge of malicious use of a telecommunications device.
The coach was sentenced to 18 months probation and fined $1,000, which is no doubt a relief after Moore was facing years in prison with charges of felony home invasion and misdemeanor charges of stalking and breaking and entering.
Moore was fired as the Wolverines head coach back in December, when it was revealed that he had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a staffer, later revealed to be his assistant Paige Shiver. And shortly after his firing, according to prosecutors and publicly released 911 calls, Moore’s wife called the police and reported that he was threatening to kill himself. He then allegedly went to the apartment of his mistress and “grabbed several butter knives and a pair of kitchen scissors, and began to threaten his own life.”
Prosecutors ultimately agreed to a plea deal that included dropping the most serious charge of felony home invasion, after it was determined that they wouldn’t be able to prove the charge because Moore had the code to Shiver’s apartment.
While Moore was probably happy to get away with no time behind bars, apparently his former mistress feels like he got off with a slap on the wrist.
In a statement issued following Moore’s sentencing, Shiver blasted the sentence as not fitting the crime:
“December 10th was the most terrifying day of my life. The criminal acts he committed were extremely frightening and violent. He broke into my apartment, crying, yelling, enraged, and came at me with knives. I was threatened, and I feared for my life. Today’s sentence does not reflect the harm done to me or the objective evidence in this case.”
Shiver also blasted the university for failing to protect her:
“The University of Michigan gave this man limitless power and emboldened him to do whatever he wanted for years with no accountability.”
During his sentencing hearing, Judge Cedric Simpson had harsh words for Moore, telling Shiver that the sentence shouldn’t be considered a reflection of the seriousness of what she went through:
“In imposing a probationary sentence, I would let Miss Shiver know that this court is not by any means lessening the impact of those events. Frankly Mr. Moore, you had no right to do what you did. I know that she was placed in fear. It was a traumatic experience that day for you. It was a certainly a traumatic experience for her, but you had no right to spread your pain to her.”
And in fact, the judge told Moore that his sentence likely would have been harsher if it weren’t for his wife, Kelli Moore:
“There is a certain irony in a lot of this – and it’s a big one in my opinion. The person, quite frankly, Mr. Moore, that is saving you from the full wrath of this court is the one you betrayed.
In body cam video of his arrest, Moore could be heard blaming Shiver for ruining his life, claiming that she got him fired and put in jail in the same day:
“She’s such a liar. I did not do anything to her. I did it all to myself. So I have to spend the night in jail because she lied? I didn’t do anything to her. She straight up lied. She’s already ruined my life enough, now she’s gonna put me in jail?”
Shiver has since left the university, with TMZ reporting that her contract expired and wasn’t renewed.
In a previous statement released through her attorneys, she had criticized the university for what she says was an imbalance of power between a “powerful head coach and a subordinate employee.””
And her attorney also had harsh words for the university:
“The University of Michigan is one of the prominent institutions in the world, but there’s a culture in the athletic department that has hurt Ms. Shiver and others. He took advantage of a younger, female employee. …
Leadership knew and failed to act to protect her. This isn’t something that happened overnight, it happened a long period of time.”
The statement also hinted that there may be other women who experienced the same thing as Shiver during their time at Michigan, and called on the university to conduct a thorough investigation.
While the criminal case may be over (as long as Moore stays out of trouble while he’s on probation), I have a feeling we haven’t heard the last of the lawsuits that will be coming out of this situation.
