Jay Mariotti facing 3 felony charges
May 11, 2011 9:00PM
Former Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti has found more trouble with the law.
Updated: August 30, 2011 12:15AM
Former Sun-Times sports columnist Jay Mariotti was charged Wednesday with felony stalking and assault after reportedly confronting his former girlfriend the same day a court ordered him to stay away from her.
According to a Los Angeles Times report, Mariotti pleaded not guilty to felony charges of stalking, corporal injury on a spouse or domestic partner and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury. He also was charged with two misdemeanor counts of disobeying a court order.
If convicted, Mariotti faces up to five years in state prison, the Times report said. His next court date is June 1.
In addition to confronting his ex-girlfriend at a restaurant Sept. 30 — the day he pleaded no contest to one count of misdemeanor domes-
tic violence stemming from an incident the previous month — prosecutors said he argued with her again outside a restaurant April 15. He
allegedly pulled a chunk of her hair out and grabbed her cell phone while shouting at her, prosecutors said.
As part of a deal reached in the original case with the Los Angeles city attorney’s office, six other misdemeanor counts against Mariotti were dismissed: four counts related to domestic violence and one count each of grand theft and false imprisonment.
In that case, Mariotti avoided jail time and was sentenced to three years of probation and 40 days of community service. He also was ordered to complete a 52-week domestic-violence course and stay away from the victim.
Mariotti also could face jail time in Los Angeles County for violating his probation.
Sun-Times wires
