Steelers Alameda Ta’amu Pleads Guilty In DUI Crash, Gets Probation

Steelers second year defensive lineman Alameda Ta’amu caught yet another break Thursday when he dodged jail time for a drunken-driving rampage he went on last October.

As reported earlier by The Inquisitr, Alameda, a fourth-round draft selection by Pittsburgh in 2012, was arrested last fall after a drunken chase with police in which the nose tackle crashed his vehicle into multiple parked cars and nearly ran over an officer whose gun was drawn.

At the time the 22-year-old Ta’amu was charged with felony counts of fleeing police, aggravated assault while driving drunk, and three counts of aggravated assault, along with 10 misdemeanors including resisting arrest, attempting escape, drunk driving, and failure to obey traffic laws.

On Thursday Ta’amu pleaded guilty to 3 counts of recklessly endangering another person, driving under the influence, and resisting arrest.

For his sentence he will serve 18 months of probation, 4 days in a DUI housing facility, pay more than $10,000 in restitution, and perform 150 hours of community service.

WTAE notes that he has also already paid $22,000 in damages and lost more than $150,000 of football income as a result of the case.

In court, Ta’amu apologized to the Pittsburgh police officers involved in his case, to their families and to the public.

“I know what I’ve done is wrong,” Ta’amu said. “I’d do anything to make it right. What I did affected my whole family. I’ve got to keep learning from my mistakes. So far, I think I’ve done a good job of staying away [from alcohol].”

The Steelers, who suspended Ta’amu for two games after the arrest and later cut him (only to resign him a few days later), issued the following statement regarding the situation:

“At the time of the incident involving Alameda Ta’amu back in October, we expressed our disappointment in his actions and made it clear that it was not acceptable behavior. We took disciplinary action at that time. We take these types of behavior very seriously, and Alameda is well aware of the standards he has to maintain to remain a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers organization.”

More on Alameda Ta’amu’s DUI sentencing in the video below: