A Minneapolis TV station is reporting that former Cal Poly recruit Anthony DiLoreto has taken a plea deal in his bank robbery case.
According to the report, DiLoreto recorded a plea of no contest to aiding and abetting robbery and also “possession of burglarious tools.” Burglarious is a new one on me. Guess I should brush up on Webster’s.
If you remember, it was allegedly DiLoreto’s sawed-off shotgun used in the Wisconsin bank heist almost a year ago. DiLoreto was supposed to drive the getaway car for an accomplice, but the plan for whatever reason fell apart.
The cops busted the accomplice as he was walking the 125-mile trek back into Minnesota after DiLoreto left the scene early, and DiLoreto was picked up by police at his home later on.
DiLoreto now awaits sentencing, and the report is unclear about whether he could do any jail time. It said something about having his charges dismissed in a year.
(EDIT: A report by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune clears things up nicely HERE.)
DiLoreto has said he’s getting recruiting attention and even spilled about an offer from Rick Majerus at St. Louis.
Considering how quickly Cal Poly cut ties with DiLoreto, it’s pretty shocking that schools would be so quick to give him a second chance.
As someone who followed the news story as it happened and spoke with the arresting sheriff in the case and DiLoreto’s high school coach, I’m somewhat conflicted by the story.
One instinct has me feeling sorry for DiLoreto, a kid with no prior criminal record who trashed his college basketball scholarship a month before classes were set to start. He was so close. It was tragic to throw it all away.
You wish you could have entered his body for that one night and made the right choice for him.
Yet, at the same time, the guy made a colossal mistake, and with so many potential college athletes out there, why willingly associate yourself with one stigmatized by his role in a bank robbery?
Not that there are 7-footers around every corner — and that’s mostly why he’ll get second looks from schools — but given a choice, there is no reason for a university to risk a scholarship on someone who’s demonstrated such bad judgment.
August 11th, 2009 at 12:47 am
By the way, Poly has announced its 2009-2010 basketball schedule:
11/13 @ USF
11/15 @ Stanford
11/21 @ Portland St
11/28 @ Arkansas Little-Rock
12/3 Seattle University
12/5 Pepperdine
12/15 @ South Dakota St
12/16 @ Wisconsin
12/21 Montana St
12/31 @ Cal State Bakersfield
1/4 @ UCI
1/7 UOP
1/9 UCD
1/14 @ CSF
1/16 @ LBSU
1/21 UCR
1/23 CSUN
1/28 @ UCSB
1/30 Cal State Bakersfield
2/4 @ UCD
2/6 @ UOP
2/11 LBSU
2/13 @ UCR
2/17 @ CSUN
2/20 Bracket buster
2/25 CSF
2/27 UCSB
3/6 UCI
August 11th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Haha, “burglarious.” That’s legalese at its best.
I fall into the latter camp when it comes to guys like Anthony DiLoretto.
While it’s sad that his entire college career may be jeopardized by one stupid decision, it’s a decision he made himself, knowingly. He must have known how being involved in an armed robbery could affect his future as an athlete and a free citizen. Yet he was involved anyways.
August 12th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
How much trouble does the university need?