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Sentence stems from club brawl
By Lisa Arthur. Larthur@herald.com
After spending a month in jail, a contrite Jose Canseco apologized to a
Miami-Dade circuit judge and prosecutors on Monday for treating the justice
system with a cavalier attitude and violating probation on assault charges.
Despite his remorse, Canseco, a former Major League Baseball most valuable
player, will spend two years under house arrest and three years on probation
after that. He will have to check in with a probation officer weekly and ask for
permission to leave home or travel.
He also has to take an anger management class and perform 250 hours of
community service.
Any missteps would bring even more serious consequences, Miami-Dade Circuit
Judge Leonard Glick warned.
''I would not hesitate for one minute to send you to state prison,'' Glick
told Canseco, as the former slugger stood with his head bowed and hands cuffed
in front of him. He wore a bright orange jail jumpsuit. He has been in a county
jail since Feb. 19.
Canseco, 38, who grew up in Miami and attended Miami Coral Park High, had
angered the judge several times during the case, which stemmed from a brawl at a
Miami Beach nightclub in 2001. Once, he failed to show up for a hearing, sending
a note from his doctor that said he was recovering from elective surgery.
Canseco and his twin brother, Osvaldo ''Ozzie'' Canseco, pleaded guilty to
felony assault charges last year. Jose Canseco could have faced up to 15 years
in prison if convicted.
In exchange for the guilty pleas, both brothers were placed on probation.
Ozzie Canseco has been meeting the requirements, according to court officials.
Jose Canseco failed to meet any of the requirements. He told Glick on Monday
that he had learned his lesson and called spending a month in jail ``my worst
nightmare come true.''
''I'm sincerely sorry,'' Canseco said. ``I never meant to hurt anyone or
disrespect anyone. I embarrassed my family and friends. . . . Now I know the
seriousness of probation.''
Glick told Canseco he owed prosecutors an apology.
''All these folks were asking you to do was the basics,'' Glick said. ``It
was the deal of the century.''
Glick and prosecutors Jon Granoff and Joshua Gradinger said they believed
Canseco's time in jail had served as a wake-up call, and they believed his
remorse was sincere.
Glick refused to transfer Canseco's house arrest to California, where his
daughter lives. Canseco, the American League MVP in 1988, won't be required to
wear an electronic monitoring bracelet, but will have to report weekly to
probation officers, according to his attorney Gustavo Lage.
''And they can go to his house to check on him at any time, with no
notice,'' Lage said.
The Canseco twins, 38, grudgingly pleaded guilty in November to aggravated
battery for breaking the nose of an Opium Garden patron and splitting the lip of
another during a 2001 brawl.
The brothers maintained they were protecting Jose's date, who they said was
harassed by two men from California in town for a business convention.
Lage said the brothers were accepting the plea deals to get the case over
with and protect their families, not because they were guilty.
In exchange for that plea, Glick placed Jose Canseco on probation for three
years and ordered him to perform 250 hours of community service and take an
anger management course. He also ordered Canseco to pay court costs. | 
