VISTA, CALIF. — Former NFL tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. agreed Friday to accept a 14-year prison sentence for raping a homeless woman and assaulting two other women.
The 37-year-old Winslow, who played for the Jets and three other NFL teams, agreed to changes to a previous guilty plea in order to avoid a potential 18-year sentence.
In 2019, Winslow was convicted of raping a 58-year-old homeless woman in Encinitas, California. Facing a retrial on other charges, he later pleaded guilty to raping an unconscious teenager in 2003 and to the 2018 sexual battery of a 54-year-old hitchhiker in Encinitas.
That plea deal capped his sentence at 18 years. On Friday, a San Diego County Superior Court judge approved a change in which Winslow’s sexual battery plea was replaced with a guilty plea to assaulting the hitchhiker with the intent to commit rape.
That brought the potential sentence down to 14 years. Winslow will be sentenced next month.
His sentencing had been scheduled for last year. But it was postponed because of court closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Winslow was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 2004 and spent four seasons with the team, being named to the Pro Bowl in 2007. He also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots and New York Jets. His last NFL season was in 2013.
Winslow is the son of Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow Sr., who spent nine seasons with the San Diego Chargers.
