Former University of Wisconsin basketball player Maurice “Boo” Wade, 20, was sentenced to 18 months probation and ordered to complete domestic violence counseling Tuesday morning after being charged for bail jumping and disorderly conduct.
Wade failed to attend counseling for the Deferred Prosecution Unit’s First Offender Program he was sentenced to after a Feb. 3, 2004, incident in which he choked his girlfriend at her Langdon Street apartment. Wade’s girlfriend was diagnosed with “neck contusion secondary to strangulation,” according to the complaint.
Although Wade and his attorney Marcus Bergham requested the court impose a fine, Judge William Foust said Wade deserved a harsher punishment.
“The conclusion I’ve drawn … is that you are completely self-centered and have nobody’s interest but your own in mind,” Foust said to Wade. “I don’t want cases like this in the future.”
Tim Verhoff, deputy district attorney, said the February 2004 occurrence was not an isolated incident.
“There are incidents of alleged violence to other women as well,” Tim Verhoff, deputy district attorney said. “There are potential substance abuse issues as well.”
Foust said if there was only one count of abuse towards women along with the failure to complete the First Offenders Program, he would have considered only issuing a fine, but there are a number of incidents involving violence towards women in which Wade was accused.
Bergham said although Wade did not complete all aspects of the First Offender Program, including anger management counseling, he went through drug counseling on his own.
“The last six months were a perfect storm — the death of his grandparents in September and October and the birth of his daughter in October which led to his withdrawal of school and the basketball team,” Bergham said.
It was announced Wade would not complete the remaining basketball season or attend classes this semester in January. According to Verhoff, the victim of the choking incident is the same woman who gave birth to Wade’s child. Wade is no longer involved with the victim.
According to Bergham, he “Googled” Wade recently and found many articles on the offenses, more than the average 20-year-old student should have, and he believes this case has already affected Wade’s life enough.
Wade is currently living with his parents in Milwaukee and is planning to complete his associate’s degree at Milwaukee Area Technical College, although he has not yet been accepted. He is having difficulty finding a job because he has no previous work experience, Bergham added.
Foust cited a number of reports from the Madison Police Department in which Wade allegedly harmed three other women.
In March of 2004, shortly after the incident the previous month, police officers were called to his Dayton Street apartment where his new girlfriend said Wade had punched her in the back of the head three times.
In 2003, police officers responded to two different women in two separate instances in which they claimed Wade had caused them bodily harm. Wade said he is not currently dating any of these women.
