Post by Gopher Mod on Apr 30, 2011 20:15:31 GMT -5
Link to the story:
www.philly.com/philly/news/20110430_Wrestler_who_turned_to_robbery_gets_4_years.html
The infamous, ultraviolent wrestler would have broken out of the handcuffs, body-slammed the sheriff's officer, and advanced toward the terrified judge with a broken-off table leg.
But it was Nicholas Wilson, not his alter-ego, Nick "F'n" Gage, who stood in Camden County Superior Court yesterday morning, waiting to be sentenced. A legend in the bloody world of the Philadelphia-based Combat Zone Wrestling league, Wilson's years of hard living and painkiller addiction caught up with him last year when he robbed a little more than $3,000 from a Collingswood bank.
During an interview in prison shortly after his arrest, Wilson told the Daily News he was ready to do his time, get clean, and return to the ring when his prison sentence ended.
"I'll be back. The king of ultraviolent wrestling will be back," Wilson said in January.
Yesterday, Wilson was looking healthier and smiled at his girlfriend before learning he'd have to serve at least four years, three months and one day before being eligible for parole. He didn't say much during his hearing, and his girlfriend declined to comment afterward, but Assistant Camden County Prosecutor Michele Morgera said the Gloucester County native was cooperative after turning himself in.
"He didn't hold back," she said. "He is an addict. His actions are a result of drug addiction."
Wilson's years of fame in the CZW, where he was the league's first heavyweight champion and a Hall of Fame inductee, actually helped get him caught.
Surveillance cameras at the bank captured a clear close-up of Wilson's trademark cropped head and thick beard, and the photos became the buzz on Internet wrestling forums. Police said the wrestling community came forward to identify Wilson, and he surrendered on Dec. 31.
After he started in CZW in 1999, Wilson was lit on fire and slammed through glass windows, and numerous fluorescent light tubes were broken over his head. In 2009, he was airlifted from a match and claimed he nearly died at the hospital after a light tube slashed his armpit.
Now, I know it says four years in the title, but he was sentenced to five. He will be eligible for parole after he serves 85% of his sentence. This amounts to 4 years, 3 months, and 1 day that he must serve in jail; he will be able to leave prison no earlier than July 31, 2014.
www.philly.com/philly/news/20110430_Wrestler_who_turned_to_robbery_gets_4_years.html
The infamous, ultraviolent wrestler would have broken out of the handcuffs, body-slammed the sheriff's officer, and advanced toward the terrified judge with a broken-off table leg.
But it was Nicholas Wilson, not his alter-ego, Nick "F'n" Gage, who stood in Camden County Superior Court yesterday morning, waiting to be sentenced. A legend in the bloody world of the Philadelphia-based Combat Zone Wrestling league, Wilson's years of hard living and painkiller addiction caught up with him last year when he robbed a little more than $3,000 from a Collingswood bank.
During an interview in prison shortly after his arrest, Wilson told the Daily News he was ready to do his time, get clean, and return to the ring when his prison sentence ended.
"I'll be back. The king of ultraviolent wrestling will be back," Wilson said in January.
Yesterday, Wilson was looking healthier and smiled at his girlfriend before learning he'd have to serve at least four years, three months and one day before being eligible for parole. He didn't say much during his hearing, and his girlfriend declined to comment afterward, but Assistant Camden County Prosecutor Michele Morgera said the Gloucester County native was cooperative after turning himself in.
"He didn't hold back," she said. "He is an addict. His actions are a result of drug addiction."
Wilson's years of fame in the CZW, where he was the league's first heavyweight champion and a Hall of Fame inductee, actually helped get him caught.
Surveillance cameras at the bank captured a clear close-up of Wilson's trademark cropped head and thick beard, and the photos became the buzz on Internet wrestling forums. Police said the wrestling community came forward to identify Wilson, and he surrendered on Dec. 31.
After he started in CZW in 1999, Wilson was lit on fire and slammed through glass windows, and numerous fluorescent light tubes were broken over his head. In 2009, he was airlifted from a match and claimed he nearly died at the hospital after a light tube slashed his armpit.
Now, I know it says four years in the title, but he was sentenced to five. He will be eligible for parole after he serves 85% of his sentence. This amounts to 4 years, 3 months, and 1 day that he must serve in jail; he will be able to leave prison no earlier than July 31, 2014.
