30-year-old Ocie Harris, an associate of Floyd Mayweather Jr., is going to prison for two to five years for shooting at two men in a car after one of them allegedly argued with Mayweather at a Las Vegas skating rink. Harris' lawyer, Tom Pitaro, argued that prosecutors blamed Harris for not implicating Mayweather in the August 2009 shooting outside the Crystal Palace Skate Center.
Prosecutor Samuel Bateman says Harris had no reason to shoot at Damein Bland and Quincey Williams other than the dispute with Mayweather. Neither man was wounded.
Mayweather was never charged in the case.
Harris pleaded an equivalent of no contest in April to two charges of assault with a deadly weapon and one charge of firing a weapon into a vehicle. Witnesses told police they saw Harris fire at least five shots at a BMW sedan with the two men inside
According to police, Mayweather argued with Williams on the night of the shooting inside the Crystal Palace Skating Center. Police say the Aug. 23, 2009, incident started over a text message Williams sent Mayweather saying he hoped the boxer would lose his upcoming fight with Juan Manuel Marquez.
Mayweather denied knowing Harris or having any knowledge of a shooting. But police said they linked the boxer and Harris through witnesses, surveillance videotapes and records seized when authorities served search warrants at Mayweather's home.
