Ex-OSU standout asks to reject plea agreement

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A former Oklahoma State University basketball standout wants to reject a plea agreement he reached with prosecutors in his indecent exposure case. <br><br>Byron Dwight Houston, speaking

Thursday, November 28th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A former Oklahoma State University basketball standout wants to reject a plea agreement he reached with prosecutors in his indecent exposure case.

Byron Dwight Houston, speaking barely above a whisper, told Oklahoma County District Judge Ray Elliott on Wednesday that he wanted to go through a pre-sentence investigation instead.

The agreement required a five-year prison term for Houston, the 1991 co-Big Eight Conference player of the year. The 33-year-old also would have received 10 years of probation.

Assistant District Attorney Joellyn McCormick said Houston's guilty plea remains intact, and Elliott will decide the former NBA player's sentence.

Elliott told Houston he could impose any sentence available under law, even one more stringent than the sentence included in the plea agreement with prosecutors. Elliott scheduled a Jan. 10 formal sentencing date.

Houston, who clutched a Bible and trembled, used his orange inmate jumpsuit and tissue to wipe tears from his eyes during the proceeding.

He pleaded guilty Nov. 18 to felony indecent exposure charges, as well as to driving while intoxicated and transporting an open container of alcohol.

Houston was arrested Aug. 30, at which time police found a journal in his sport utility vehicle that included his admission to being a sex offender and detailed his practice of indecent exposure.

Houston led OSU in scoring in 1991, when the squad won the Big Eight Conference title, and in 1992.

He spent four years in the NBA and more than four years playing pro ball in Europe, the Continental Basketball Association and the International Basketball League.