Ex-Seahawk Robinson reaches plea agreement

ST. PETER, Minn. — Former Minnesota Vikings receiver Koren Robinson reached a deal with prosecutors to be sentenced on a single felony charge of fleeing police after leading officers on a high-speed chase Aug. 15.

In exchange for Robinson's Alford plea, prosecutors dismissed seven lesser charges related to drunken driving, reckless driving and driving without a license. Robinson, a former first-round draft pick of the Seahawks, was rushing to get to training camp before curfew.

The Alford plea allows someone to acknowledge the evidence could result in a conviction, but doesn't require them to admit guilt.

Police chased him from St. Peter to Mankato at speeds that officers said sometimes exceeded 100 mph.

Robinson, now with the Packers, apologized during his plea hearing Monday and said he didn't know he was being chased until the pursuit ended.

"It was a bad decision on my part," he said. "I was trying to get back to camp grounds to avoid the fine I was going to get for being late."

While the felony count carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine, Robinson's attorney, Joe Tamburino, said he will ask the judge for a gross-misdemeanor sentence. That would mean a maximum of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine. Prosecutor Paul Tanis agreed to remain silent on that issue during sentencing.

"The bottom line is it's totally up to the judge," Tamburino said Tuesday.

Robinson's sentencing was scheduled for Feb. 20. Tamburino had asked that it be before Feb. 28, when Robinson is due to begin a 90-day sentence in Green Bay, Wis. That jail term was ordered because the Minnesota chase violated conditions of Robinson's probation from a separate drunken-driving case in Kirkland last year.

After he signed with Green Bay, the NFL suspended Robinson for one year for violating its substance-abuse policy.