ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore was placed on probation Tuesday for 18 months for a confrontation with his executive assistant soon after he was fired for having an inappropriate relationship with her.
Moore was facing a possible sentence of up to six months in jail after pleading no contest to trespassing and malicious use of a telecom device. But Judge J. Cedric Simpson ordered no time in custody.
He said jail wasn’t warranted, though he warned Moore that “all bets are off” if he violates probation. Judge Simpson, too, said his decision was greatly influenced by the ex-coach’s wife, Kelli.
Moore, 40, was fired on Dec. 10 after leading the Wolverines for two seasons, following Jim Harbaugh’s move to the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers. It was a stunning dismissal at one of college football’s most prestigious programs.
Moore was accused that same day of confronting Paige Shiver, with whom he had been having an affair, and blaming her for his firing, even threatening to kill himself with butter knives and kitchen scissors in her apartment. Authorities said she had ended the affair and spoken to school officials about it.
By ordering probation, “I would let Ms. Shiver know that this court is not by any means lessening the impact of those events,” the judge said.
“Frankly, Mr. Moore, you had no right to do what you did,” he added. “I know that she was placed in fear. It was a traumatic experience that day for you. It was certainly a traumatic experience for her. But you had no right to spread your pain to her.”
Ms. Shiver did not attend the hearing but released a statement, saying the sentence “does not reflect the harm done to me.”
“He broke into my apartment, crying, yelling, enraged, and came at me with knives. I was threatened, and I feared for my life,” she said.
Moore was initially charged with felony home invasion, stalking and illegal entry. But Washtenaw County prosecutors agreed to a deal in which he pleaded no contest to two other misdemeanors.
Moore spoke briefly in court, thanking his wife for standing by him but not saying anything about Ms. Shiver. Defense lawyer Ellen Michaels told the judge that Moore had received counseling and was focused on his family.
The judge repeatedly praised Kelli Moore. Judge Simpson said he was especially moved by a letter she wrote in support of her husband. He also noted that she was concerned about Moore’s mental health when she calmly called police on the day of his firing in search of him.
“The person, quite frankly Mr. Moore, that is saving you from the full wrath of this court is the one you betrayed,” Simpson said. “I don’t know where your wife Kelli finds her strength.”
Moore responded to the judge by nodding, while his wife’s eyes welled with tears in the courtroom’s front row.
The judge also cited the “courage” of prosecutors by backing off from the initial charges.
“When the charges were filed they were appropriate,” Simpson said. “But as with any case, as more facts become known and as more things happen, the facts and the analysis change.”
The plea deal came after Ms. Michaels planned to aggressively challenge how police gathered and shared information to get an arrest warrant. She argued that police didn’t disclose that Moore and Ms. Shiver had a working relationship that involved calls and text messages.
Moore did not harm himself on Dec. 10 and was peacefully arrested in a parking lot away from Ms. Shiver’s apartment.
When the hearing ended, Moore leaned over a courtroom barrier and hugged his wife. Outside the courthouse, he held a Bible in one hand and her hand with the other.
“Sherrone is grateful for this matter to be resolved and he and his wife, Kelli, are ready to move forward with their family and focus on the next chapter,” Ms. Michaels said.
