The first step is admitting you have a problem . . .
Don't you just love celebrity mugshots?This one of Billy Nelson may not exactly qualify, because he's not a celebrity in his own right.
But, he is the son and namesake of the Sunshine State's recently-reelected U.S. Senator Bill Nelson.
It seems Junior went a little overboard celebrating Daddy's "surprise" victory over Katherine Harris on Tuesday night, got arrested for disorderly conduct, battery on a law enforcement officer, and resisting arrest.
All this went down just outside the Embassy Suites in downtown Orlando.
I've seen worse mugshots, to be sure. Remember Jeb Bush's daughter a couple of years ago?!
But, the toughest thing about this picture for me was believing this miscreant is only 30 years old! I guess alcohol abuse and the pressures of being a senator's son will age a guy . . .
posted by wsmv at
10:53 AM
3 Comments:
A follow-up story in today's newspaper reveals details of a prior run-in with Jacksonville authorities at last year's Super Bowl:
Nelson's son jailed last year in similar case, by Henry Pierson Curtis, Sentinel Staff Writer
November 10, 2006
A day after Orlando police arrested Sen. Bill Nelson's son on charges he resisted an officer and was drunk and disorderly, authorities in Jacksonville said the same thing happened there after last year's Super Bowl.
Records released Thursday show Charles William Nelson was arrested Feb. 6, 2005, on charges of resisting arrest, disorderly intoxication and trespass when he tried to fight his way into a VIP party thrown by Playboy magazine.
To avoid prosecution, he later admitted being drunk and wrote a letter of apology to the officer who arrested him.
"I am extremely grateful I did not hit you when I swung my arm at you," he wrote, Jacksonville state attorney's records show. "Thanks for teaching me a lesson."
Sen. Nelson only learned of the earlier arrest when he asked his son, known as Bill Jr., about the latest incident, according to the senator's spokesman, Dan McLaughlin.
"The senator is aware there is a common denominator to these incidents, and that is alcohol abuse," McLaughlin said Thursday. "That is also something his son must take full responsibility for and deal with."
Bill Nelson Jr., 30, has not spoken publicly about being arrested in Orlando outside his father's victory party on Election Night.
He is accused of shoving Orlando police Officer William C. Becton, resisting arrest, and being drunk and disorderly on the sidewalk in front of the downtown Embassy Suites at 2:45 a.m. Wednesday.
Police say he tried to prevent Becton from helping an intoxicated woman who had passed out and needed medical attention.
Messages left on the younger Nelson's cell phone have not been returned.
During the 2005 Super Bowl weekend in Jacksonville, the senator's son was arrested at 2:10 a.m. outside River City Brewing Company. Bouncers wouldn't let the "extremely intoxicated" man enter Playboy's private party, arrest records show.
"He jerked away and became combative," Officer J.S. Kiseljack wrote. "The suspect then swung his right arm towards me as if he was attempting to strike me. . . . The suspect continued to resist and would not put his hands behind his back."
Bill Nelson Jr. blamed his misbehavior on drinking.
"This is not an excuse, though. I am not the kind of person who does not listen to his elders or someone in charge of enforcing the law," he wrote in the letter of apology.
"I have learned from this mistake and it will not happen again."
Jay Plotkin of the State Attorney's Office in Jacksonville said prosecutors decided not to pursue a conviction after weighing Nelson's clean arrest record and his willingness to apologize and perform community service.
The International Foundation wrote prosecutors that Nelson volunteered at the Washington, D.C.-based ministry and helped arrange meetings with several ambassadors about its foreign missions.
Orlando police are waiting to hear what action Orange-Osceola State Attorney Lawson Lamar will take against the senator's son.
"We'll have to let what happened here in Orlando be treated like any other arrest," said Sgt. Barbara Jones, the department's spokeswoman. "The law applies to everybody."
April Hunt of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Henry Pierson Curtis can be reached at 407-420-5257 or hcurtis@orlandosentinel.com.
June 7, 2007, Orlando Sentinel follow-up article:
Orlando -- The trial for U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson's son, Charles William Nelson, is set for later this month.
Charles Nelson, 31, was arrested Nov. 8 outside the Embassy Suites Hotel on Pine Street hours after celebrating his father's re-election to the Senate as a Democrat from Florida.
A pretrial hearing was held Wednesday in front of Orange Circuit Judge Stan Strickland.
He said he holds these hearings in a jury room instead of his courtroom because he can get through his docket faster.
A court deputy barred a Sentinel reporter from attending the public hearing.
Strickland later called the Sentinel, apologized, and said the deputy was wrong and should have allowed the reporter or anyone else in.
The judge said he spoke to the deputy and said it wouldn't happen again.
Charles Nelson was charged with battery on a law-enforcement officer, a third-degree felony, disorderly intoxication and resisting arrest without violence, which are both misdemeanors.
Reports of a street brawl drew police to the hotel about 2:45 a.m.
Police say Charles Nelson tried to prevent a police officer from helping an intoxicated woman who had passed out and needed medical attention.
He shoved an officer, resisted arrest, and was drunk and disorderly on the sidewalk in front of the hotel, police said.
Following article by Sarah Lundy from today's Orlando Sentinel
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson's son is set to be sentenced this morning at the Orange County Courthouse.
Charles Nelson, 31, will be in court for the 9 a.m. hearing before Orange Circuit Court Judge Stan Strickland.
In June, an Orange County jury found Nelson, 31, guilty of battery on a law-enforcement officer, which is a third-degree felony, and resisting arrest without violence, a misdemeanor.
Before the three-day trial began, the senator's son turned down the state's offer to plead guilty to the charges in exchange for supervised probation, alcohol counseling and a letter of apology to the Orlando cop whom he was found to have pushed in the early morning hours after his father's November re-election.
Charles Nelson was supposed to be sentenced July 31, but his attorney filed motions for acquittal and a new trial. Kirk Kirkconnell argued that the first trial was not fair. Strickland denied the motion.
Check back for updates.
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