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Ex-Storm player gets 15 years in fatal wreck

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By TOM BRENNAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 30, 2009

TAMPA - Former Tampa Bay Storm arena football player Darion Conner was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for a wreck that killed a bicyclist in 2004.

It's the second time Hillsborough Circuit Judge Ronald Ficarrotta has imposed the maximum sentence on the former linebacker.

Conner, 41, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2005. But a state appeals court overturned the conviction in 2008, saying prosecutors showed jurors an irrelevant and prejudicial photograph of the victim.

"I can't get past your prior record. I can't get past the severity of the crime," Ficarrotta told Conner. "You were the one who drank to excess and you were the one who got behind the wheel.

"Jonathan Conklin is dead and he is dead because of you."

It took jurors 70 minutes to again convict Conner of striking and killing Conklin, 32, with his Toyota Land Cruiser about 2 a.m. Sept. 4, 2004. Tests showed Conner's blood-alcohol level was .273; state law presumes a person intoxicated at .08.

Records showed Conner has three previous convictions for driving under the influence.

Prosecutor Matthew Smith said Conner had ample second chances.

"This person had an opportunity to put a stop to it," he said.

Ficarrotta agreed.

"My God, you should have known after the first one there is never, never, never, never an excuse to get behind the wheel when you have been drinking," he said.

Conner told the judge he was sorry and took responsibility for his action.

"Anyone who knows me knows I would never mean to hurt anyone intentionally when sober," he said.

David Conner said his brother has been an alcoholic since high school. He asked Ficarrotta to impose the minimum sentence – about 10 years – in order to allow his brother to care for his 17-year-old daughter, who lives with relatives in Mississippi.

Terry Johnson of Atlanta said Darion Conner, his longtime friend, has finally faced his addiction.

"I wouldn't be here today if I weren't convinced he was a changed man," he said.

Witnesses said Conner was driving erratically while westbound on Linebaugh Avenue and struck Conklin from behind in the bike lane.

"There are no skid marks where the brakes locked up trying to stop," Smith said in his closing statement.

Conner told deputies he swerved to avoid a car.

Witnesses testified Conner repeatedly swerved into the left lane and then jerked to the right, careening into the bike lane.

No one saw the moment of impact. But one witness saw sparks and a flash, and then Conklin flying onto the hood of the Toyota and into its windshield.

After hitting the bicyclist, Conner's SUV veered back to the left, jumping the median, mowing down a small tree and driving into oncoming traffic.

Conner played for the Storm from 1999 to 2005. He was a second-round draft choice of the Atlanta Falcons in 1990 and played for several National Football League teams until 1997.

Reporter Tom Brennan can be reached at (813) 259-7698.

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