Former Syracuse football player Naesean Howard pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree assault, one count of second-degree assault and one count of criminal possession of a weapon Friday morning linked to an April 2016 stabbing. He will be sentenced to 10 years in state prison with five years post-release supervision.
“It’s good,” Ralph Cognetti, Howard’s attorney, said of the resolution. “You always want better.”
Howard, 21, and his attorney came to the decision after receiving a plea offer last Tuesday. He had the choice of either accepting the plea or proceeding with trial, which would have begun Feb.