Coban Porter, brother to Denver Nuggets star Michael Porter Jr., on Thursday admitted he killed a woman while driving drunk last year.
The 22-year-old former University of Denver basketball player pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide-DUI and vehicular assault in Denver District Court. As part of the plea agreement, he will be sentenced to no more than eight years in prison.
“Guilty, your honor,” Porter said when asked how he pleaded.
An additional count of vehicular homicide due to reckless driving was dismissed as part of the agreement.
Porter could have faced up to 12 years in prison in the killing of Kathy Limon Rothman, 42. Porter ran a red light and crashed into her vehicle at the intersection of South University and Buchtel boulevards just before 2 a.m. on Jan. 22, 2023.
Rothman was mother to a young son and was working as an Uber driver at the time of the crash, her family has said. A passenger in her car during the crash was seriously injured but survived.
Porter was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and two counts of assault after the crash. Both of the charges he pleaded guilty to on Thursday are felonies. He will be sentenced on April 19.
Denver police said Porter was driving at 50 mph in a 30 mph zone and had “bloodshot and watery eyes, slurred and mumbling speech, and the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath,” according to an affidavit.
Rothman’s family and the passenger in her car, Jason Blanch, in January sued Porter and the bar where he drank before the crash. The lawsuit alleges that Porter’s blood alcohol level was .20, more than twice the legal limit of .08.
The lawsuit claims staff at the Crimson and Gold Tavern on South University Boulevard, a sports bar that caters to DU students, overserved Porter before the crash, which happened less than a mile from the bar.
Porter was at the time a student at DU; he left the school in early 2023.
Harvey Steinberg, Porter’s attorney, declined to comment following the hearing
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