High School Football

Former Marshall player Butler pleads guilty to striking gay men

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Former Marshall University football player Steward Butler pleaded guilty Monday to charges in connection to an April 2015 attack.

Butler, who was running back, is accused of striking two gay men on a 9th Street sidewalk in Huntington.

Steward Butler

Butler said in a Cabell County courtroom he did hit both men. He also said he would fail a drug test because of marijuana use.

He was previously indicted on a felony civil rights violation charge, which was dismissed by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.

Butler faces up to a year in prison in addition to up to a $500 fine. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 25.





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