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Former NFL player Clelan Winslow II is seeking to have his prison sentence reduced, citing new California criminal justice laws.
Winslow, 41, was a first-round pick (No. 6) by the Cleveland Browns in 2004. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2021 after being charged with multiple sex crimes. In a plea deal struck in February of that year, he agreed to plead guilty to one count of rape and two counts of assault.
Now, in a filing with the California Court of Appeals reviewed by USA Today, Winslow is seeking to have his sentence reduced under a law that allows relief on the grounds that a defendant previously suffered “psychological, physical, or childhood trauma, including, but not limited to, abuse, neglect, exploitation, or sexual violence.”
The bill was passed in October 2021, just months after it was ruled on in March.
According to the petition filed with the court, Winslow claims that brain damage he suffered from multiple concussions during his football career, the effects of a 2005 motorcycle accident, and sexual abuse by two of his relatives as a child, qualifies him for reconsideration of his sentence, according to USA Today.
“I am committed to being a productive person when I am released, and I will always feel remorse for what I did to the victims in my case,” Winslow said in the petition.
Winslow will not be eligible for parole until September 2028 and is incarcerated at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco.
He says in his statement, according to USA Today, that he spends his days reading the Bible and self-help books, jogging with other prisoners, and participating in counseling.
“My goal was to become a better man and one day meet my wife, who had stood by me for so long, and my two children,” Winslow wrote.
Janelle Winslow filed for divorce in 2019.
In total, Winslow appeared in 105 games (83 starts) with the Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots and New York Jets from 2004 to 2013.
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