Patrick Cummins’ honesty and cooperation with police officers played a major role in his 2011 conviction for what he called a college prank.
It took Patrick Cummins seven years to brush off the legal consequences of a college prank gone wrong.
Cummins, now 38, was sentenced to jail in 2011 in a case relating to felony burglary charges. The incident spawned from a fraternity prank at Penn State University, in which valuable items including laptops and television were taken. “You push it and you get caught,” he told Kajan Johnson and Shakiel Mahjouri on the Pull No Punches podcast.
“We got arrested immediately and I don’t really know how to deal with cops. I’ve never gotten in trouble in my life,” Cummins continued. “It’s funny now when you think about it, but it was super serious back then. I knew the police in town and the detective that was investigating the incident. I coached his kids at the wrestling club in town. I had a certain level of trust built up with these guys. I was like, ‘Hey, this is what I did. I’m really sorry and I want to make sure everything gets put back together. I don’t want to hurt anybody.’’
“Originally, we had a deal and we were going to sweep things under the rug. Call it like it is. It’s a prank that went wrong,” he continued. “Certain things happened and the district attorney changed. A new guy got assigned to our cause and it was like, ‘oh no, this guy wants jail time and he’s going to charge you with a felony.’”
Cummins’ cooperation with law enforcement was ultimately his undoing. “They kind of flipped the script on us. I fought it for a long time. I got arrested in 2008. It was a three year period of being in limbo,” he shared. “Congratulations, you’re a felon.”
“I trusted all of the police,” Cummins expressed. “I confessed to everything and they turned it around on me. There’s no defense to this because I admitted to everything.”
Travelling has been a major issue for Cummins since then. He has fought four times in Brazil and most recently in Canada. His last outing required him to collect reference letters before heading North. “I think I just got off probation last year,” he said. “It’s followed me around for so long. I’m over this.”
Cummins, known for his throwback mustache, also joined the hosts in ranking some of the greatest lip-furs in mixed martial arts. The three names were Dan Severn, Ian McCall and Mike Beltran. “How long do you think he has grown that thing?” Cummins asked of referee Beltran. “It’s gotta be over 10 years. I don’t trim my mustache ever and it just reaches a certain point.” Nevertheless, he ranked both Severn and McCall’s mustaches higher.
Cummins fights Ed Herman at UFC Rochester on Saturday, May 18. The event is headlined by Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Kevin Lee in the latter’s welterweight debut.