A FORMER star athlete who posed as a teenager and subsequently played high school basketball in West Texas was sentenced to three years in prison after reaching a plea deal, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
Guerdwich Montimere, 23, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault and three counts of tampering with government records. Officials say the naturalised US citizen from Haiti came to Odessa as a ninth-grader using the name Jerry Joseph, a 16 year-old. Montimere was 21 when he played one season at Odessa Permian High and helped lead the Panthers to the 2010 state playoffs. Permian’s football team and backers inspired the book Friday Night Lights. Suspicions were raised about Joseph after coaches from Florida at a post-season basketball tournament in Arkansas said they recognised him as Montimere, a 2007 graduate of a Florida high school. Montimere’s trial was to begin next week in Odessa. He had faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the original counts.- tampabay.com
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