Man Whose Sucker Punch Killed Soccer Ref Accepts Plea Deal

The Dearborn man charged in the one-punch slaying of a referee in a recreational league soccer match last summer will spend up to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter Friday.

Bassel Saad, 36, will faces between eight and 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to the charges, reduced from second-degree murder, The Detroit News reports. His trial in Wayne County Circuit Court was to have begun Monday. He will be sentenced March 13.

Saad, who is not an American citizen, may also face deportation to his native Lebanon, Wayne County Circuit Judge Timothy Kenny said.

“I want you to understand that the offense that you are pleading guilty to today is a deportable offense,” Kenny told Saad. “This plea today could have immigration consequences. Do you understand that?”

The referee, John Bieniewicz, 44, of Westland, died on July 1, two days after he was punched by Saad, who reportedly was upset that Bieniewicz was about to eject him from the game in Livonia’s Mies Park.

Under the original charges, Saad could have been imprisoned for life. Wayne County Prosecutor Erika Tusar told the Detroit Free Press the plea agreement came after “intense negotiations.”

The June 29 attack was Saad’s second altercation at a soccer game. According to a 2005 Canton police report obtained by the Detroit Free Press under the Freedom of Information Act, Saad is accused of striking another soccer player twice in the mouth and five or six times in the back of the head, then put down a child he was carrying and hit the man “extremely hard” in the back of the head one more time, causing him to fall to the floor of the indoor soccer complex.

Related:

• Rec League Soccer Ref in Critical Condition After ‘Terrifying’ Assault
• Michigan Soccer Ref Declared Dead After ‘Terrifying’ Assault by Player
• Global Response to Lethal Attack on Soccer Ref: ‘Why?’
• Saad, Accused in Soccer Ref’s Death, Bound Over for Trial
• Prosecutors Want 2005 Report of Soccer Fight in Sucker-Punch Trial
• Man Accused of Fatally Punching Soccer Ref Gets New Judge

Saad’s attorney, Cyril Hall, said he is “distraught” and “very, very remorseful.”

“He has been writing prayers out for several months. That’s all he does. He talks about the (Bieniewicz) family first,” he said.

Kris Bieniewicz, the victim’s widow, declined requests for comments, but told the Free Press in an earlier interview that she would “love to see the guy fry.”

“There is a huge discrepancy between manslaughter and Murder 2,” Kris Bieniewicz continued. “Unfortunately, I’m learning more about the law than I should. Manslaughter, he could walk after a couple of years.”

Saad’s family also declined comment. He has three children, and has lived in Dearborn for about a decade and works as an auto mechanic.

The case sparked outrage around the country and prompted legislative proposals that would make assaulting a referee a felony. The bills sponsored by Sen. Morris Hood III, D-Detroit, are currently in the Michigan Senate’s Judiciary Committee.

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