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Bengals DB O'Neal pleads guilty

NFL.com wire reports

BATAVIA, Ohio (March 9, 2007) -- Cincinnati cornerback Deltha O'Neal, one of nine Bengals players arrested over a nine-month period, pleaded guilty to a less serious traffic offense stemming from his arrest at a drunken driving checkpoint.

O'Neal, originally charged with driving drunk after being arrested on Dec. 9 at a checkpoint in Clermont Country east of Cincinnati, pleaded guilty to reckless driving.

O'Neal told Municipal Court Judge James Shriver that as a father of three small children, he realized the need to be more responsible.

"I just want to apologize for what I did," O'Neal told the judge.

Shriver gave O'Neal a 30-day suspended jail sentence and three years' probation. He fined him $250 and ordered him to donate $1,000 to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Shriver suspended O'Neal's driver's license for six months from the date of his arrest, but allowed him to drive to and from work.

"We're glad the case is resolved and we expect Deltha to fully comply with the court's directives," said Bengals spokesman Jack Brennan.

The arrests of nine Bengals players during a nine-month span embarrassed the team and drew the attention of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who called Bengals president Mike Brown to express his concern about the team's off-field problems.

O'Neal was the third Bengals player to have a court case decided this week. His plea came a day after a judge in nearby Burlington, Ky., allowed cornerback Johnathan Joseph to enter a diversion program for possession of marijuana.

On March 5, linebacker A.J. Nicholson was sentenced to two months in a sheriff's work program and two years' probation after pleading no contest in Tallahassee, Fla., to burglary and grand theft.