STRAWBERRY SENTENCED TO 18 MONTHS IN PRISON

TAMPA, Fla. - Darryl Strawberry was sentenced to 18 months in prison Monday
for violating his probation on a 1999 conviction on drug and solicitation
of prostitution charges. Dressed in an orange jail-issued uniform, the
40-year-old former major league slugger said his "life is going in the
right direction." He had been held at the Hillsborough County Jail since
March awaiting sentencing.

"I would just like to get this behind me. I would like to do my 18 months
and move on," Strawberry said. "I don't want to have this over my head."

He smiled slightly when Retired Judge Ralph Steinberg said he hopes
Strawberry will return to baseball one day.

Strawberry's wife, Charisse, was in court. She declined to comment after
the sentencing.

Steinberg ordered Strawberry to serve prison time from the original 1999
sentence. Strawberry fought the state's previous attempts to imprison him
and was sent to drug treatment instead, but he has violated his probation
six times.

The latest violation involved breaking the rules of the drug treatment
center by smoking, having sex with a resident and trading baseballs for
cigarettes.

Again on Monday, Strawberry's lawyer suggested a treatment center. But
Judge Florence Foster, who repeatedly opted for treatment instead of prison
for Strawberry, is no longer presiding over his case. Steinberg, brought
back into service to replace Foster while she is on medical leave, was
firmly decided on prison.

Strawberry's lawyer, Darryl Rouson, said he expects his client will serve
fewer than 13 months and will get credit for time already spent in jail -
nearly two months in 2001 and more than a month this year.

Under Florida law, inmates must serve a minimum of 85 percent of their
sentences before they are released.

Rouson wants Strawberry sent to Zephyrhills Correctional Institution near
Tampa, which has programs for both drug-addicted and mentally ill inmates.
Rouson said the Department of Corrections probably will decide within 10
days where Strawberry will serve his sentence.

Last year, Foster suspended Strawberry's 18-month prison sentence, provided
he completed the program at the Ocala-area drug treatment center.

Prosecutors had urged Foster to send Strawberry to prison after he violated
house arrest at another drug treatment center by escaping and going on a
cross-state drug binge. However, Strawberry's lawyer said the eight-time
All-Star needed medical care and mental health services not available in
Florida prisons.

Strawberry was on World Series championship teams with the New York Mets in
1986 and the New York Yankees in 1996 and 1999. Along with his legal
problems, he has been treated for colon and stomach cancer. Strawberry has
not used drugs for more than a year, his attorney said.

Ron Dock, a counselor at the Yankees' minor league complex in Tampa who has
stood by Strawberry through his numerous brushes with the law, said: "He's
at peace. I am very proud of that man. He's not that little boy from a few
months ago. He's a man today."

Dock said Strawberry no longer talks about returning to baseball. Just days
before Strawberry's latest arrest, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said
he hoped to bring Strawberry back to the organization to work with younger
players.

Assistant Hillsborough County State Attorney Darrell Dirks was pleased with
Monday's outcome.

"He didn't like someone telling him what to do," Dirks told the judge. "At
some point he should be punished for that."