A former member of the Eastern Michigan University football team will avoid jail time for being the driver for three other men who beat a man on campus in December.

Eric Jones, 23, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault in September. On Wednesday, Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Archie Brown sentenced him to one year of probation.

Jones admitted when he pleaded guilty to the two misdemeanors that he was the one who drove Kinsman Thomas, Jalyn Massenberg and one unidentified man near the Pease Auditorium on EMU’s campus on Dec. 14. The three men attacked an EMU student from behind and a laptop was reported stolen.

Jones said in court Wednesday he doesn’t plan to be on the wrong side of the law again.

“I’m a law-abiding citizen and neither you or any other judge will ever see me again,” he said.

Thomas and Massenberg also pleaded guilty to crimes connected to the incident. Massenberg was sentenced to two years of probation for unarmed robbery last month and Thomas is scheduled to be sentenced by Brown on Nov. 28 after pleading guilty to two charges of aggravated assault, according to court records.

Jones and Thomas both played wide receiver at EMU. Jones was listed as a redshirt freshman on the team’s 2010 roster but recorded no statistics. Neither Jones or Thomas are still on the team.

Jones must pay more than $2,300 in fines and costs and he, Thomas and Massenberg are all responsible for $741.97 in restitution to the victim.

Charges of unarmed robbery and assault with intent to rob while armed were both dropped at the sentencing hearing on Wednesday.

Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.