A former Arizona Wildcats assistant track and field coach will serve five years in prison for threatening a former athlete with a box cutter.
Craig Carter, 50, was sentenced Monday. He was convicted of two counts of aggravated assault β one with a deadly weapon β on March 30, nearly three years after he was arrested for choking former UA thrower Baillie Gibson in his McKale Center office while threatening her with a box cutter. The pair had previously been involved in a sexual relationship, which Gibson maintains was not consensual.
Carter sobbed Monday as he stood to address Pima County Superior Court Judge Teresa Godoy. He apologized to Gibson and Julie LabontΓ©, who was Gibsonβs roommate and teammate and testified against Carter at the trial.
βIβm truly sorry and I hope and pray someday they can forgive me,β Carter said. βThey never have to worry about me ever again.β
Carter also was sentenced Monday to a 1.5-year prison term for the second aggravated assault conviction, which will run at the same time as the five-year term.
Carter did not take the stand during his three-day trial, but the jury still heard from him in the form of a videotaped confession and emails, text messages and voicemails left on Gibsonβs phone, several of which contained threats.
Days after Carterβs conviction, he filed a motion for a new trial, but he withdrew his motion on April 30, when he accepted a plea with Pima County prosecutors for the remaining charges in the case.
Weeks before Carterβs trial, Godoy accepted Carterβs motion to sever the charges in the case. While he stood trial on two counts of aggravated assault, charges of stalking and disrupting an educational institution remained active in the case.
In a separate case, Carter was charged with four counts of aggravated harassment, after he violated a protective order against LabontΓ© by attempting to contact her on Facebook and Skype.
During the April 30 hearing, Carter pleaded guilty to one count of stalking and one count of aggravated harassment, in exchange for the other charges being dropped. He was sentenced to three years in prison for stalking and 2Β½ for violating the protective order, sentences that will run concurrently with each other and concurrently with his five-year sentence for the assault charges.
On Monday, Gibson told the court that βnot a day goes by that I donβt look over my shoulder to make sure Craig is not following me.β
Gibson said she had high hopes when she moved from a small town in Wyoming to Tucson, which was a βbig city to me,β she said, and Carter made her and her parents believe she would be safe at the UA.
βThe reality of what followed was nothing like this,β she told Godoy.
βEvery day is a battle,β Gibson said as she teared up and LabontΓ© put her hand on her back in support.
Before she met Carter, she was an outgoing person who was always smiling, Gibson said.
βI feel like I have lost who I once was,β she said.
She has to work hard to keep moving forward, but βI will not let this man take any more of my life from me,β she said.
Carterβs defense lawyer, Dan Cooper, read descriptions of Carter from letters submitted to the court on his behalf.
Carterβs family and friends described him as βthe kindest man Iβve ever met,β βjust a big teddy bear,β and βhumble,β Cooper told Godoy. Athletes who were coached by Carter said he was βthe best coach I ever had,β βsimply an amazing human being,β and βcompletely gentle.β
Carter already has suffered consequences, such as losing his house, job and the respect of the athletic community, Cooper said. He now lives with his parents and works at a $10-per-hour job.
βThis is a broken man,β Cooper said, noting Carter has suffered from depression for more than 20 years. βThe way you see him now sobbing is how I see him every time I visit him in jail.β
βHis remorse couldnβt be more sincere,β Cooper said.
Godoy noted Carterβs family support, mental-health issues and lack of criminal history as mitigating factors for his sentencing. Gibson and LabontΓ© suffered significantly from Carterβs actions.
Despite being the minimum sentence, the five-year sentence is a βdifficult and long prison termβ for Carter, Deputy Pima County Attorney Jonathan Mosher said after Mondayβs hearing, calling it a βjust punishment for what he did to this young lady.β
Gibson βshowed incredible strengthβ by confronting Carter and going through the trial, Mosher said. βAs a student-athlete, nobody should have to go through that,β he said.
Carter caused βa lot of trouble in our families, so to be able to finally see some years that heβs going to go in prison, I think thatβs going to be good for us,β LabontΓ© told reporters outside the courthouse.
When asked if she had forgiven Carter, she said βI hope one day I will.β
Gibsonβs mother, Billie Jo Gibson, said she was angry at the University of Arizona.
βThey should have protected her,β she said.
Cooper said by phone the sentence was fair, and βthis case is an incredible tragedy for everybody.β