Smith Changes Plea, Gets 8 Year Sentence

A former College of the Desert football player pleaded guilty Monday to stabbing a teammate and was immediately sentenced to eight years in prison.

Jamie Edward Smith, a 20-year-old Palm Desert resident who played free
safety on the college's football team, was arrested Sept. 1, 2011, for stabbing
his teammate "multiple times'' during a fight in the 77-700 block of Country
Club Drive, according to Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. David Florez.

In a hearing at the Larson Justice Center, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Thomas N. Douglass accepted Smith's attempted murder plea
and and imposed an eight-year sentence, according to court records.

Sheriff's Deputy Angel Ramos said that the victim, a 19-year-old Palm Desert resident whose name was not released, had gone to Smith's Palm Desert apartment to take back items that had been stolen. Florez said a dispute "ensued and the disagreement escalated into a confrontation that ended
with one person seriously injured after being stabbed.''

The victim was treated at Desert Regional Medical Center for his wounds,
none of which were life-threatening, Florez said.

According to the football roster on College of the Desert's website,
Smith was a 5-foot-11, 190-pound Chicago native who previously attended North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University. He was expelled from the College of the Desert team after the stabbing, according to head coach Dean Dowty.