Ex-college football player admits to stalking Hollywood billionaire
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A former North Dakota college football player has been given probation for stalking billionaire David Geffen.
Jamie Ralph Kuntz, 21, pleaded no contest Feb. 9 to one misdemeanor count of stalking and was ordered to stay 200 yards away from Geffen for 10 years, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles district attorney.
Kuntz was charged with felony stalking and five counts of violating a restraining order to stay away from Geffen's homes in Beverly Hills, California, and Malibu, California, after being convicted of trespassing on the entertainment mogul's property.
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Defense lawyer David Wohl said Kuntz got into trouble for showing up at Geffen's homes after their short-term relationship ended.
Wohl said he thought Kuntz would have prevailed at trial, but had already been in jail more than three months because he couldn't afford the $150,000 bail and didn't want to spend more time awaiting his day in court.
"It's celebrity justice in reverse," Wohl said. "The victim is a celebrity, and judges are afraid of something happening to them."
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Geffen, who made his fortune as a record producer and co-founded DreamWorks Pictures, is a powerful player in Hollywood.
Kuntz said he was kicked off the North Dakota State College of Sciences football team two years ago because he was gay after being seen kissing a 65-year-old boyfriend at a game. The coach said he was removed for lying about the kiss.
As part of the plea deal, Los Angeles prosecutors reduced the stalking charge and dropped the other counts.
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Kuntz must attend psychiatric counseling twice a week for a year as a condition of his two-year probation term, Robison said.