Nick Bollea, the 17-year-old son of pro wrestler Hulk Hogan, entered a no contest plea and was sentenced for charges of felony reckless driving involving serious bodily injury. The charges stem from an August 2007 car crash where Bollea's excessive speed led to critical, permanent injuries for his friend and passenger John Graziano.
Bollea had received numerous prior speeding tickets, and in court today it was revealed that his license plate, COEHSP, stands for "Capable of Eluding High Speed Pursuit."
Bollea faced up to five years in state prison if he did not take the plea agreement. Instead, the reality star of VH1's "Hogan Knows Best" was sentenced today to eight months in Pinellas County Jail, effective immediately.
During the sentencing part of the hearing, 12 witnesses said they saw Bollea drag racing at the time of the accident.
Graziano's father Ed also made an emotional plea on behalf of his son: "John was my first born son, and the first chance to carry on my family name."
Before the accident, John Graziano "was healthy, he was safe, and he was strong. He was a hero. He was a United States Marine. He was willing to put his life in harm's way to protect his country's freedom, [but] what Al Queda could not do to my son, Nick did to my son in minutes."
Ed Graziano also said his son's mental and physical condition is likely permanent, and that he will probably never be able to communicate with family and friends again.
John Graziano's father, as well as his sister, Kristen Carson, said Bollea never expressed his remorse for his role in the accident.
"We have never once heard him apologize. He has never said sorry," Carson said.
The Hogan family responded to the accusations.
"I miss John being around me all the time," Bollea said. "I know this has been extremely difficult for the Grazianos, and it has also been extremely difficult to my family, and I feel terrible about it."
While Hulk Hogan expressed his condolences, both for the Graziano family and his own, he also defended Bollea.
"Nick is not the person that he's been asked to be portrayed on TV... Nick is a good person. He is kind, he is gentle, he's compassionate, and he doesn't have a bad bone in his body," he said. "People fail to realize that Nick is still a 17-year-old child."
Prior to Judge Philip Federico sentence, he said the crash was not "an accident" and called Bollea's driving behavior "cavalier."
In addition to the 8 years behind bars, Federico sentenced Bollea to five years of probation, 100 hours of community service per year and one day monthly in "some positive framework." He also suspended Bollea's driver's license for three years and told the underage teen he could not drink alcohol.
