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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — On Tuesday, former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore received an 18-month probation sentence due to a contentious incident involving his executive assistant shortly after he was dismissed for engaging in an inappropriate relationship with her.
Moore faced the possibility of a six-month jail term following his no-contest plea to charges of trespassing and misusing a telecommunications device. However, Judge J. Cedric Simpson decided against imposing jail time.
The judge stated that incarceration was unnecessary but warned Moore that any probation violations would lead to more severe consequences.
At 40, Moore was unexpectedly fired on December 10, after spending two seasons as head coach for the Wolverines, succeeding Jim Harbaugh who had transitioned to the Los Angeles Chargers in the NFL. His departure marked a surprising turn for one of college football’s top programs.
On the same day of his dismissal, Moore was accused of confronting Paige Shiver, with whom he had maintained an affair. He allegedly blamed her for his firing and threatened self-harm using butter knives in her apartment. Authorities indicated that Shiver had already ended their relationship and informed school officials.
“You had no right to spread your pain to her,” the judge told Moore.
Shiver did not attend the hearing but released a statement, saying the sentence “does not reflect the harm done to me.”
“He broke into my apartment, crying, yelling, enraged, and came at me with knives. I was threatened, and I feared for my life,” she said.
Moore was initially charged with felony home invasion and two additional charges. But Washtenaw County prosecutors agreed to a deal in which he pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors. The felony charge was dropped.
Moore spoke briefly in court Tuesday. He thanked his wife, Kelli, for standing by him but did not say anything about Shiver.
The plea deal came after defense lawyer Ellen Michaels planned to aggressively challenge how police gathered information to get an arrest warrant.
Moore did not harm himself and was peacefully arrested in a parking lot away from the woman’s apartment.
Shiver said in a statement Tuesday, “The University of Michigan gave this man limitless power and emboldened him to do whatever he wanted for years with no accountability. December 10th was the most terrifying day of my life. The criminal acts he committed were extremely frightening and violent. He broke into my apartment, crying, yelling, enraged, and came at me with knives. I was threatened, and I feared for my life. Today’s sentence does not reflect the harm done to me or the objective evidence in this case.”
White reported from Detroit.
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