Former Canadian Football League player sentenced to four days in jail

The four-day jail sentence that former City High football star Hakim Hill received today will probably be the least of his problems.Hill pleaded guilty today in Johnson County District Court to two counts of assault on a police officer, which will land him in jail for four days, two days for each count to run consecutively. But the sentence’s impact on the player’s football career could be far more extensive.Hill was enjoying a great season for a team in the Canadian Football League before immigration officials barred him from Canada until he resolved outstanding legal issues in the United States. In court today, Hill’s attorney argued the Hill be put on probation rather than in jail. With probation, he said, Hill could apply for a waiver to get back into Canada 30 days after his probation was up. With jail time, the attorney said, Hill might find himself shut out of Canada for two to four years.This is the latest blow to Hill’s football career, which has taken him from being one of the nation’s top high school running backs to being a player without a league.Hill’s legal troubles started at City High when he was accused of raping another City High student. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault causing injury. It was then off to Arizona State University, the alma mater of his father, former NFL player J.D. Hill. The younger Hill eventually became the team’s leading rusher before coach Dirk Koetter dismissed him from the team in December for violating a team rule.Hill planned on then attending and playing for the University of Northern Iowa, but his latest run-in with Iowa City Police halted those plans. It was then off to Canada, where he joined the Toronto Argonauts and was turning heads as the team’s leading rusher. But the fight with police that occurred on Feb. 20 in Iowa City, then a drunken driving charge in Scottsdale, Ariz., in July ended up with Hill being barred from Canada until his legal issues were resolved.In the latest Iowa City incident, Iowa City Police say that officers came upon Hill when responding to a reported fight involving four people at 2:23 a.m. Feb. 20 at the Sheraton Iowa City Hotel, 210 S. Dubuque St.Hill was poking a security guard at the hotel and screaming, “Don’t you (expletive) touch me.” When officers identified themselves, he repeated the action against them. He smelled strongly of alcohol and had poor balance. His blood-alcohol level later tested .15. A person is intoxicated at .08 under Iowa law.Told he was under arrest, Hill refused to submit to being handcuffed. He kicked an officer in the shin, and officers had to push and pull him into a squad car. Because of his perceived intoxication level, officials at the Johnson County Jail rerouted Hill to University Hospitals’ emergency room.He continued to struggle with police and “made death threats to officers and their families,” according to police.