Plaxico and Donte

This is an older story but it something that still bothers me.  Plaxico Burress and Donte Stallworth are/were wide receievers in the NFL.  Both players committed crimes but they were dealt with very differently.  Heres a quick review of the two cases.  Plaxico Burress was at a nightclub with a gun in his pocket for protection and the gun accidently went off and he shot himself in the leg.  He was brought to the hospital where he used a fake name to protect himself because he didn't have a license for the gun.  Donte Stallworth went out one night and drank with some friends, woke up the next morning still intoxicated and decided to drive a car.  He ended up striking and killing 59-year-old Mario Reyes with his car.

They both obviously committed crimes but their sentences are what bothers me.  Plaxico Burress was convicted of having an illegal weapon and sentenced to 2 years in prison followed by 2 years of supervised probation.  Donte Stallworth was convicted of drunken driving and killing a man and was sentenced to 30 days in prison followed by 2 years of house arrest.  Stallworth ended up serving less than 30 days because of good behavior and now he is allowed to leave his house to train and get ready to play football again.

Call me crazy, but this all seems very unfair.  I was never a huge fan of either player but Plaxico didn't really do anything wrong.  Obviously he shouldn't have had a gun in a nightclub but he didn't shoot anyone else or cause any trouble.  He shot himself and payed for his mistake.  He should be fined for having a gun and be able to go on with life.  Many people say that if he wasn't a public figure that would have been the case.  Donte decided to get behind the wheel of a car after a night of drinking and killed a person and took away a part of someone's family, and he receives 20-something days in prison.  In no way is that fair. Michael Vick killed innocent dogs and received a very similar sentence to Plaxico.  There needs to be a standard set so that everyone, including everyday people, receive the punishment they deserve for a crime.