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Apologies, Accusations Aside, Jail For Bollea

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 10, 2008

Updated: 05/10/2008 12:45 am

CLEARWATER - Two portraits of Nick Bollea emerged Friday before a judge decided what punishment the teenager should get for a car wreck that left his passenger with brain damage.

In one, Bollea was an immature speed freak who never owned up to his actions and skateboarded through the halls of Bayfront Medical Center while John Graziano fought for his life in intensive care.

Nick Bollea

In the other, Bollea was a sensitive 17-year-old who didn't drive after the wreck, even though he could have, and who decided on his own to work with a charity devoted to brain trauma research.

In the end, he was just another defendant in the criminal justice system sentenced to county jail.

Not long after he turned to the Graziano family in a packed courtroom, apologizing for what had happened, he removed his belt at the command of a courthouse bailiff and rolled his fingers in dark ink for prints.

After a hearing of more than two hours - in which members of the Bollea and Graziano families spoke of Nick's behavior - Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Philip Federico sentenced him to eight months in Pinellas County Jail.

Federico also sentenced him to five years of probation and 500 hours of community service. As a condition, the judge said Bollea can't buy his way out of the time with cash.

Bollea also can't drink alcohol for five years. Bollea was found to have alcohol in his system after the Aug. 26 wreck that left Graziano, now 23, with a severe brain injury, said Assistant State Attorney Scott Rosenwasser.

Federico also ordered that Bollea's driver's license be revoked for three years and that he attend DUI and driving classes.

He was facing up to five years in prison.

The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office took no position when one of Bollea's attorneys, Kevin Hayslett, offered a no-contest plea, as opposed to a guilty one, to the charge filed in November, reckless driving involving serious bodily injury.

Federico accepted it.

Then, after much hand-wringing, Federico decided to withhold adjudication of guilt - meaning Bollea doesn't have to describe himself as a convicted felon and can try to have his record sealed.

The withhold does not buttress the plaintiffs of a civil lawsuit related to a crime the same way an adjudication of guilt would, lawyers agree.

The guardian for Graziano has filed such a lawsuit against Bollea and his parents, famed former wrestler Hulk Hogan and Hogan's estranged wife, Linda Bollea.

"A no-contest plea with a withhold prevents it from being used in the civil case," Hayslett said outside court.

George Tragos, who is representing John Graziano in the civil lawsuit, downplayed the withhold, saying it doesn't do anything for Hogan and Linda Bollea, who stand to lose the most. "Nick doesn't have any assets," Tragos said.

Federico wants to see what progress has been made in settling the lawsuit by Nov. 12, when there is a hearing scheduled on the issue of restitution. In the civil lawsuit, the Graziano family is seeking millions.

In the courtroom, the Bollea and Graziano families sat across the aisle from one another in the spectator section, each in a front row. At his defense table, Nick was wearing a silver jacket, gray pants, a blue shirt and a silver-blue tie.

The Graziano family did not seek a sentence in prison. Most of the family wanted a 6-month sentence in jail, although Graziano's father, Edward, wanted a year, Rosenwasser said.

Rosenwasser then asked that the judge, along with Bollea and his attorneys, watch video footage of Graziano's family trying to interact with him at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa. Graziano is in a semiconscious state. Part of his frontal lobe has been removed.

Rosenwasser also reiterated the facts of the case - that Bollea was racing with friend Danny Jacobs before the wreck, that the street was wet at the time and that the souped-up Toyota Supra he was driving was going 69 mph before it crashed backward into a palm tree.

He also ran through Bollea's speeding history - including the day he was stopped twice in a Mercedes-Benz along Alligator Alley, with his father riding as a passenger.

Before sentencing, members of the Graziano family told heartbreaking stories about John's condition.

They wanted the judge to find Bollea guilty, to leave a record of what happened.

Edward Graziano spoke of his son's service in Iraq, and the half-dozen metals he received for his service.

"What al-Qaida could not do to my son, Nick Bollea did in a matter of minutes," he said.

"Nick has shown no remorse for what he has done to my son's life," Graziano said.

Bollea skateboarded through hospital hallways and shot toy guns, he said. "When he visited, he had an emotionless face."

Debbie Graziano, John's mother, also spoke.

"Every day I go to see my son John, I jump with excitement if he moves his eye toward me. No mother should have to live like this the rest of her life," she said.

'Nick's Had A Lot Of Growing Up'

The Bollea family, in contrast, spoke of Graziano as more a member of their family than of the Grazianos. They said Bollea and Graziano were like brothers. They said Nick had been unfairly attacked. And they asked the judge not to make him a convicted felon.

Hulk Hogan, dressed in a black suit and his customary head wrap, this time in black, recalled how there had been an understanding between the families in the wake of the wreck, but that the relationship has deteriorated. Still, he has noticed a positive change in his son's demeanor.

"Nick's had a lot of growing up over the last eight months," Hogan said. Father and son have talked extensively about what happened, and hold out hope for a recovery for Graziano, Hogan said. "We pray to Jesus Christ for total 100 percent healing," he said.

"Nick is going to have to live with this experience for the rest of his life," Hogan said. "I don't want him treated more harshly because of who his dad is."

Linda Bollea, who is in the middle of a bitter divorce with Hogan, echoed his remarks.

"He is deeply saddened that he doesn't have his friend around anymore," she said. "I know if he had a choice, he would have traded places with John, he loves him so much."

One of her son's attorneys, Sandy Weinberg, noted how Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, and Linda Bollea have helped the Graziano family financially. They paid for Debbie Graziano to live in a condominium for a year, helped so Michael Graziano could continue his education, and paid for a hotel room for Edward Graziano.

Bollea Sought Out A Charity

In a memorandum Nick Bollea's attorneys filed as part of the sentencing, they note how Bollea sought out the National Wave charity in Freedom, Pa., when he learned it had a special focus on raising funds for victims of brain injury. His father is a spokesman for National Wave.

Bollea helped raise $60,000 for a fund that is named in part for Graziano, the memorandum says. Sean Chumura, the chairman of National Wave, told the judge some of that money has gone to Graziano. Rosenwasser later said this was the first the family was hearing of it.

Weinberg also said Bollea could have driven after the wreck, but decided not to.

From a stand toward the front of the courtroom, Bollea turned to the Graziano family to apologize.

"I will never be able to say I'm sorry enough and I will never be able to say sorry to John enough," he said. "I genuinely mean that."

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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