June 22 (Bloomberg) -- The punishment, said critics -- and there were a lot of them -- didn’t fit the crime.

No argument here. But there’s more to this tragic tale. There’s always more. If you’re willing to listen.

At first glance the resolution seems, well, inequitable. Maybe even nonsensical and unjust.

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth gets behind the wheel of his Bentley drunk, kills a pedestrian, and gets -- are you ready for this -- 30 days in jail.

Thirty days.

The nationwide howls of incredulity began almost immediately after the plea agreement was announced last week. People just couldn’t fathom it.

After all, it was pointed out, again and again, Michael Vick got considerably more jail time for killing dogs.

This was a human being. A husband. A father.

The whole thing smacked of preferential treatment, of a rich and famous athlete barely having to answer for his crime.

Even people who didn’t know the victim, 59-year-old construction worker Mario Reyes, were furious that prosecutors in South Florida endorsed the plea bargain. Angry doesn’t do it justice. They were livid.

And they made sure prosecutors knew it.

Phone calls. E-mails. Letters.

“In 30 years doing this job I have never seen such backlash on one particular case,” says Terry Chavez, spokeswoman for State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “But you still have to do the right thing. And this was the right thing.”

Family Wish

Say what?

How, pray tell, can a 30-day jail sentence be the right thing when a loving husband and father is dead?

Here’s how: When it’s what the victim’s family desires. When the family, as Chavez put it, “strongly urges” prosecutors to make it go away as quickly as possible. The widow didn’t want her 15-year-old daughter living with an open criminal case for who knows how long.

“We really rely heavily on what the family wants,” Chavez told me. “It really makes a big difference.”

As it should.

Attorneys for the Reyes family, which reached an undisclosed financial settlement with Stallworth, didn’t return messages left at their offices.

You might think that prosecutors had an open-and-shut case.

After all, Stallworth didn’t flee the scene. He admitted to hitting Mr. Reyes. He cooperated with police. He accepted responsibility.

Blame

Here’s what Stallworth could have done, according to prosecutors. He could have blamed the victim. At least in part. After all, the evidence shows that Mr. Reyes was jaywalking. He tried to cross MacArthur Causeway, a six-lane thoroughfare, outside of the crosswalk. Stallworth flashed his lights and honked his horn, figuring that Mr. Reyes would backtrack. He didn’t.

What might seem inconsequential to you is a migraine for a prosecutor.

Stallworth, prosecutors said, could’ve hired the best accident reconstruction specialists, not only smearing the victim’s name but extending the case for up to seven years. He didn’t.

“When you’ve got the money, you can keep the case hanging in limbo for years with legal maneuvers,” Chavez said. “Mr. Stallworth could have poked so many holes in this case.”

House Arrest

Stallworth has the money. In fact, he’d been paid a $4.5 million bonus the day before the crash.

So. Many. Holes.

As part of his plea, Stallworth also agreed to two years of house arrest, eight years of probation and a lifetime suspension of his driver’s license. Any hiccups during the probationary period and Stallworth is headed to jail for a long time, Chavez said.

“Everything has to be looked at from every single angle,” Chavez said.

Stallworth has been suspended indefinitely by National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell, who has shown little leniency for players who run afoul of the personal conduct policy.

As I’ve written before, it’s long overdue that owners, general managers and coaches decide whether a lucrative job in professional sports is a right or a privilege.

David Cornwell, Stallworth’s lawyer, in a statement said he was confident the commissioner would take the player’s acceptance of responsibility and cooperation with authorities into account when deciding whether reinstatement is appropriate.

‘Just Resolution’

“We fully anticipate that the factors that supported the ‘just resolution’ of the criminal matter will be equally persuasive with Commissioner Goodell.” Cornwell’s statement said.

What counts as a mitigating factor to a prosecutor shouldn’t matter to Goodell. Stallworth made a bad decision and, as a result, a man is dead.

“I will continue to bear this burden the rest of my life,” Stallworth told the judge.

Life goes on.

Yesterday was Father’s Day. And somewhere in Miami a teenage girl probably spent the day sobbing.

If it’s equitable punishment you want, forget it. Plea or no plea, 30 days or 30 years, there’s no such thing.

(Scott Soshnick is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 22, 2009 00:01 EDT