THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL — Former boxer Alex Hilton vowed Monday to work hard to turn his life around after being sentenced to 125 days in jail for assaulting a police officer and breaching his probation conditions.
Hilton will be on probation for three years when he gets out of jail for this latest scrape. He must also attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
Hilton, a former Canadian middleweight champ, was scheduled to appear for a bail hearing and trial date setting Monday but decided instead to change his original not-guilty plea to guilty.
"He decided he wanted to get rid of it right away," Hilton’s lawyer, Clement Monterosso, said of his client’s decision to take the deal. He added that the alternative could have been 18 months behind bars if Hilton was convicted.
"The offer was fair," Monterosso said. "The client was happy with it."
Hilton, a father of two children, has been offered a job by a former employer upon his release.
"He told the judge that as soon as he gets out of jail he wants to go back to his job," Monterosso said.
"He will go see a civil lawyer to have the right to see his children again because it’s been a few years that he hasn’t seen his children and he wants to find a nice apartment and have a normal life."
Monterosso said Hilton has also struggled with bad investments and problems with his ex-wife.
The defence lawyer said Hilton is already attending AA meetings twice a week.
Hilton pleaded guilty to eight counts of breach of probation, one count of assaulting a police officer and three counts of uttering threats to cause bodily harm. Other redundant charges were dropped because of the guilty plea.
Hilton, 42, was arrested by Montreal police on Oct. 17 after reports he was trying to start fights in a bar and was overturning tables.
Police found Hilton sitting outside the bar with a half-glass of beer and arrested him for violating probation conditions, Crown prosecutor Dennis Galiatsatos told the court during sentencing arguments.
He said Hilton tensed up as he was led to the police car and threatened to punch one police officer, saying he would "see three stars" before he fell down.
The boxer, who was in handcuffs as officers tried to put him in the cruiser, struggled and then spit at one officer, hitting his bullet-proof vest when he ducked.
Hilton continued to resist as he was driven to the police station, spitting and kicking at the police car windows.
"From the point of view of the Crown, this is simply unacceptable behaviour," Galiatsatos said later, noting he is satisfied with the way everything worked out.
"We had guilty pleas on all the counts we wanted," he said. " We’re going to be avoiding a trial."
He added that while the primary goal is to protect society, the Crown also wanted to send a message.
"We want to show people that if a court imposes a condition… be it a probation order or conditions upon release, someone cannot take them lightly."
In court, Galiatsatos reeled off what he described as "a laundry list" of Hilton’s convictions over the years, pointing out that most of the offences involved violence.
Hilton’s arrest last October came within hours of his acquittal on charges he assaulted a woman during an altercation on a Montreal street.