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A 49-year-old man has pleaded guilty to his part in a January 2007 collision that killed Willie "B.B." Fielder, a 17-year-old Weatherford High School football standout, officials said.
Parker County prosecutors have recommended that Rodney Swindle receive a 10-year probated sentence, a $2,000 fine and 300 hours of community service, and some jail time, said Jeff Swain, Parker County assistant district attorney.State District Judge Graham Quisenberry will determine the length of Fielder's sentence. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 17. Swain said Thursday that prosecutors did not want to discuss why they recommended probation. The information will come out at the hearing, he said. District Attorney Don Schnebly stated in a news release that Fielder's family approved of the plea agreement."Before arriving at the decision to make this plea offer, we consulted extensively with Mr. Fielder’s family," Schnebly said. "In the end, they indicated that they believed that resolving the case with a guilty plea and a probated sentence with an associated term of jail time would be appropriate."Fielder's parents were unavailable for comment Thursday.Swindle was a suspect in the collision that occurred about 3 p.m. Jan. 8, as Fielder, who was driving a 1997 Dodge Avenger to track practice, turned north onto South Main Street from Cleburne Avenue.A southbound Chevrolet pickup driven by Swindle hit the car in the driver's door, police said.Police said Swindle's pickup was one of two vehicles accelerating to the front of a bottleneck on South Main Street. Neither would allow the other to pass. Fielder died as a result of the injuries he suffered in that collision, police said. Robert Earnest Wilkerson, 31, of Granbury was also indicted in the case, but prosecutors chose to first deal with Swindle, Swain said. He added that a trial date for Wilkerson has not yet been set.Schnebly described the charge as felony "racing causing death."Swain said: "People might think of 'The Fast and the Furious,' but this was not a drag-racing situation. The two vehicles reached a bottleneck and neither one wanted to give up that front post, and Mr. Fielder turned in front of them."Staff Writer Bill Miller contributed to this report.
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