PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT

Cincinnati Bengal defensive lineman Dan Wilkinson was found guilty of striking his pregnant girlfriend during a Sept. 13 argument, but evaded jail when the judge gave him a suspended six-month sentence.

His girlfriend, Shawnda Lamarr, 20, who is to give birth to the couple’s first child on March 11, told Hamilton County Municipal Judge Dennis Helmick she did not want to prosecute Wilkinson or see him go to jail.

Wilkinson, 22, the NFL’s top draft choice in 1994, pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge of domestic violence. The judge found Wilkinson guilty and warned him that since he has been convicted, he would face a felony charge if he is ever again charged under Ohio’s domestic violence law.

The judge fined Wilkinson $200 and ordered him, as a condition of probation, to make 20 appearances before high school audiences to discuss domestic violence. Wilkinson also must pay $53 in court costs. He could have been jailed for up to six months and fined a maximum of $1,000.