Former NHLer Mike Ribeiro has learned his fate after a jury deliberated for close to 12 hours in his trial. Ribeiro had been facing two counts of s****l assaut, and another count of attempted s****l assaut.
On the first two counts, Ribeiro was found not guilty. However, the jury couldn't reach a decision on the third, announcing they were deadlocked. It isn't known yet whether Ribeiro will be retried on that one, or whether it will be dropped.
The charges against Ribeiro were filed following a party at a summer home in Franklin County, Texas. Ribeiro was in the area trying to sell the property at the time. Two women accused him of assault, while the other said he tried but she stopped it.
After being drafted into the NHL by the Montreal Canadiens in 1998, Ribeiro went on to have a long career, playing 1074 regular season games in total. Besides the Habs, he played for the Dallas Stars,Washington Capitals, Phoenix Coyotes, and Nashville Predators. He retired from pro hockey in 2017. Ribeiro was a bit of a lightning rod when it came to controversy throughout his time in the NHL. His most notorious incident was with Montreal during a playoffs series against the Boston Bruins in 2004. Ribeiro was widely accused of faking an injury to get a whistle from the officials.
