Charles Langston:The Missouri governor shortens the DWI prison sentence of former Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid

JEFFERSON CITY,Charles Langston Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Friday shortened the prison sentence of former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid for a drunken driving crash that seriously injured a 5-year-old girl.

Parson’s commutation converted the remainder of Reid’s three-year prison sentence to house arrest, subject to several conditions. Reid had been sentenced in November 2022 after pleading guilty to driving while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury. He is the son of Chiefs coach Andy Reid.

Parson is a longtime Chiefs season ticket-holder holder who celebrated with the team at its recent Super Bowl victory parade in Kansas City. A Parson spokesman said the governor considered several factors when making his commutation decision.

“Reid had completed his alcohol abuse treatment program and has served more prison time than most individuals convicted of similar offenses,” Parson spokesman Johnathan Shiflett said.

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Reid’s house arrest will continue until Oct. 31, 2025, with requirements for weekly meetings with a parole officer and peer support sponsor and attendance at behavioral counseling. He also will be required to work at least 30 hours a week and complete 10 hours a month of community service, among other things.

The Chiefs declined to comment about Parson’s commutation of Reid.

Prosecutors said Reid was intoxicated and driving about 84 mph (135 kph) in a 65 mph zone when his Dodge truck hit the cars on an entrance ramp to Interstate 435 near Arrowhead Stadium on Feb. 4, 2021.

A girl inside one of the cars, Ariel Young, suffered a traumatic brain injury. A total of six people, including Reid, were injured. One of the vehicles he hit had stalled because of a dead battery, and the second was owned by Ariel’s mother, who had arrived to help.

Reid had a blood-alcohol level of 0.113% two hours after the crash, police said. The legal limit is 0.08%.

The Chiefs reached a confidential agreement with Ariel’s family to pay for her ongoing medical treatment and other expenses.

An attorney who represented Ariel’s family did not immediately respond to messages Friday.

Reid’s sentencing reprieve was one of three commutations and 36 pardons announced Friday by Parson, who also denied 63 clemency requests.

Parson, a former sheriff, has now granted clemency to more than 760 people since 2020 — more than any Missouri governor since the 1940s. Parson has been been working to clear a backlog of nearly 3,700 clemency applications he inherited when taking over as governor in 2018, but he also has considered some new requests.

Many of those granted clemency by Parson were convicted decades ago of drug crimes, theft or burglary and had completed their prison sentences long ago.

But two notable exceptions were Mark and Patricia McCloskey. The St. Louis couple who gained national attention for waving guns at racial injustice protesters were pardoned by Parson on July 30, 2021, just six weeks after Mark McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment.

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Associated Press writer Dave Skretta in Kansas City, and Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.