Ex-Oklahoma player sentenced to 18 years in prison
A former high school football star who played for the Oklahoma Sooners and was allegedly involved in four armed robberies has received an 18-year prison sentence.
Ex-Oklahoma defensive back Parrish Lee Cobb pleaded guilty to the aggravated robbery of a Baylor student who was reportedly held up at gunpoint, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald.
The 20-year-old agreed to a plea bargain in which prosecutors dismissed two other charges of armed robbery.
However, there is still a fourth armed robbery charge pending against Cobb.
Cobb was arrested back in January 2017 for his alleged involvement in three robberies that took place over a four-day period that month.
Last month, his co-defendant, Ayorinde Jelani Gibson, was handed an 18-year prison for his involvement in one of those robberies.
Cobb was suspended from the Sooners, and though he was released from jail on bond following his first arrest, he was taken into custody again less than three months later, in April 2017, for his alleged involvement in another armed robbery.
At the time, he was “accused of entering a residence, pointing semi-automatic handguns at a man and his roommate before stealing ‘cash and drugs’ and leaving on foot,” per Yahoo Sports.
He has yet to be convicted on latest charge.
Cobb’s fall from grace is certainly tragic.
In 2015, the Tribune-Herald named him the 2015 Super Centex Defensive Player of the Year thanks to his efforts to help La Vega High School in Bellmead, Texas, win its first ever state championship.
A highly regarded recruit, he committed to Baylor but requested and was granted a release following the firing of former Baylor coach Art Briles.
He opted to attend Oklahoma instead, where he started four games in 2016, his freshman season.
He never played again for the Sooners due to his legal troubles.
Judge Ralph Strother of Waco’s 19th State District Court said Cobb was lucky to only be sentenced to 18 years.
“Sounds to me that given the opportunities you have had in your life, which I know about, and the mess you have made out of your life, you are fortunate to be getting the deal you are getting,” Strother told Cobb, per the Tribune-Herald.
Cobb will be eligible for parole after nine years.
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