Tagoa'i sent to jail,
dismissed from team
LINCOLN, Neb. >> Nebraska offensive lineman Junior Tagoa'i was dismissed from the team yesterday, the same day he was sentenced to 21 days in jail for hitting his girlfriend while she was holding their infant child in April.
"I have met with Junior and have informed him that he will not be allowed to return to the team," coach Frank Solich said following the afternoon court hearing where Tagoa'i was sentenced.
Tagoa'i, the Saint Louis School alumnus who will begin serving his sentence Tuesday, also was fined $500 for the assault on his girlfriend, and $350 after being found in contempt of court for making an obscene gesture in court at an earlier hearing.
Tagoa'i's attorney, Chris Eickholt of the county public defender's office, did not comment on whether an appeal would be filed.
Tagoa'i, a 6-foot-2, 300-pound Hawaii native was listed No. 1 at right guard on the Cornhuskers' depth chart following spring practice. Because of his suspension, Tagoa'i was not allowed to report to preseason camp, which started Aug. 5.
He is not listed on the depth chart that was released prior to fall camp and he is not included in the media guide.
Tagoa'i, 22, told Lancaster County Judge Gale Pokorny he was working to deal with his problems.
"I made these mistakes and I don't know what caused them," Tagoa'i told the judge. "I just really am trying to work things out with myself."
The charge came after a 23-year-old woman told police in April that Tagoa'i grabbed her arm and bruised her during a fight at a Lincoln apartment.
Pokorny had harsh words for Tagoa'i.
"That appears to be the way you respond to people who upset you," Pokorny said, after he summarized the police report. "Brute violence toward others, especially women, seems to be your standard reaction to those who displease you."
Last week he was fined $350 for an unrelated disturbing the peace charge from 2001 also involving his girlfriend.
