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Serb Agrees To Plea Deal After College Attack

NEW YORK (1010 WINS/ AP) -- Lawyers reached a plea bargain Tuesday under which a Serb college basketball player charged with beating an American student into a coma would serve about two years in prison in his homeland, potentially ending a case that had strained relations with the U.S.

Under the agreement, 23-year-old Miladin Kovacevic would plead guilty to the brutal beating of Bryan Steinhauer and be sentenced to two years and three months -- with three months of that having been served already in the U.S. and Serbia. He would have faced up to eight years in prison if convicted by the First Municipal Court in Belgrade of inflicting severe bodily harm with possible deadly consequences.

LISTEN: 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera speaks with the victim's mother

To take effect, the plea deal needs to be confirmed by the court, which said it will rule on Sept. 27. Sen. Chuck Schumer said early Tuesday that the punishment called for was too light.

"This is basically a cover-up," the victim's mother, Marlene Steinhauer, told 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera. "We were denied justice, basically there is no justice here."

Kovacevic is accused of repeatedly kicking Steinhauer in the chest and head after a barroom brawl in May 2008, near Binghamton University. The beating left the 24-year-old from Brooklyn with skull fractures and a severe brain injury.

The victim's mother said the sentence is not enough but the family just wants to focus on her son's recovery. "We have to move on," Steinhauer said.

In a statement Tuesday, Steinhauer's family said they were told about the potential deal Sunday and told prosecutors they could not accept it because "the proposed sentence was far too lenient."

"They have apparently decided to proceed with the deal despite our opposition," the statement said. "If this is the case, we are very disappointed. We have patiently waited for more than two years for justice to be served, and if this is to be the outcome, we feel our trust was misplaced. We hope that they will reconsider their position."

The agreement was confirmed by Kovacevic's lawyer, Borivoje Borovic, and the Serbian prosecutor's office.

Kovacevic was first charged in the United States. But he jumped bail and fled to Serbia, which refused to hand him over to the U.S., citing local laws banning extradition.

Hillary Rodham Clinton intervened in the case, first as U.S. senator and later as secretary of state -- as did Schumer.

The Serbian government eventually paid $900,000 to Steinhauer's family as part of an agreement to try Kovacevic in Belgrade.

In a statement Tuesday, Schumer criticized the plea bargain.

"The punishment does not fit the crime,'' he said. "This was a dastardly deed that almost killed Bryan Steinhauer. His injuries and suffering are worth more than two years.''

It was not immediately clear what prompted the prosecutor to offer the deal. Serbian authorities have been under U.S. pressure to speed up the trial, which already had been postponed twice -- first in June and again on Monday.

Judges ordered the second delay after Borovic filed a motion demanding that the court reject evidence provided by the U.S.

Kovacevic is additionally charged with obtaining the fake passport to flee the United States after the fight.

Also on trial with Kovacevic are two former Serbian diplomats charged with abusing their positions when they provided a false passport to Kovacevic.

(TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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