Plea bargain in Williams case

Co-defendant admits tampering, will testify against Ex-Net

Damaging testimony Click the image to launch the clip Kent Culuko tells a story of a cover-up orchestrated by former Nets star Jayson Williams. Start Video Plus Visit Video Plus for all the latest video and audio.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- A former college basketball player will testify against Jayson Williams under a plea bargain in the case of a limousine driver shot to death inside the former NBA All-Star's estate.

Kent Culuko, 29, pleaded guilty Thursday in Superior Court in Flemington to tampering with evidence and witnesses. He agreed to testify against Williams and co-defendant John Gordnick, 44, and could avoid serving any time in jail under provision of a state law for first-time offenders.

Culuko admitted in court that he wiped the gun and moved it after the shooting and told the other people in the room to say they were downstairs when it happened. Culuko said he did these things at Williams' request.

Williams is charged with manslaughter in the Feb. 14 death of limo driver Costas Christofi. Prosecutors say the co-defendants, both friends of Williams, tampered with evidence to make it look as if the victim, not the former New Jersey Net, fired the gun.

Culuko's lawyer, John Lacey, said his client soon backed off that claim.

"He acknowledged wiping down the gun after the fact, and he acknowledged influencing other people into telling a story that was different from the truth," Lacey said. "The important thing is, and the prosecutor's office acknowledged this by admitting him into the pre-trial program, is that later that day, Kent and others informed the authorities that this was an accident and not self-inflicted."

Culuko, who played basketball at James Madison, did not specify in court which witnesses he influenced, and Lacey would not identify them.

Judy Smith, a spokeswoman for Williams, would not comment on Culuko's guilty plea, saying only, "Jayson Williams intends to enter a plea of innocent to all charges at the appropriate time."

Acting Hunterdon County Prosecutor Steven C. Lember said he was ready to present the case to a grand jury as soon as it could be scheduled. While Lember said it would make sense to present Gordnick's case at the same time, he did not say whether that was the plan.

The prosecutor did not expect a similar plea deal with Gordnick "now or in the foreseeable future."

Messages left for Williams' attorney, Joseph Hayden, and Gordnick's attorney, Kevin C. Corriston, were not immediately returned.

Prosecutors said Williams was recklessly handling a 12-gauge shotgun when it went off, hitting Christofi in the chest.

According to court documents, Williams, Culuko and Gordnick then tried to replace Williams' fingerprints on the gun with Christofi's and conceal clothing Williams wore during the shooting, hoping to make police think it was a suicide.

Williams, who retired from the Nets in 2000, remains free on $270,000 bail.

Culuko and Gordnick were charged with evidence tampering, conspiracy to obstruct the administration of law and two counts of hindering another's apprehension. If convicted on all charges, Culuko could have faced 18 years in prison.

Christofi, 55, was apparently invited on a tour of Williams' mansion in Alexandria Township after picking up the former NBA player's friends at a Harlem Globetrotters game in Bethlehem, Pa., prosecutors said.

 

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