Williams to be freed, receives suspended sentence

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Ex-Oklahoma State basketball player Darrell Williams was set to be released from jail after a judge gave him a suspended sentence Friday in a sexual assault case.

Two women accused the 23-year-old of groping them and reaching inside their pants without their consent at a party in December 2010.

Williams had been jailed since his conviction in July on counts of rape by instrumentation and sexual battery, but had requested a new trial based on what his attorneys said was new evidence.

The judge gave him two one-year sentences that were to run concurrently and ordered the sentences be suspended.

With little physical evidence to bolster prosecutors’ case, Assistant District Attorney Jill Tontz relied on testimony from the two women.

Both women testified that they identified Williams as their attacker after police showed them a photo of the Cowboys basketball team. One woman said Williams held her against her will and dragged her in a yard. She said the attack happened in the basement of the house and that no one came to her aid.

Williams has long denied the allegations, and did so in a recorded interview with police that attorneys played during his trial.

“I don’t know what happened in the basement,” Williams said on the audio recording. “I was probably misidentified.”

Williams was suspended from the team in February 2011. Before that, he led the team in rebounding and averaged 7.1 points per game.

Coach Travis Ford testified at Williams’ trial that he believed he was innocent.