Back to the Michigan State Spartans Newsfeed

Cleaves cleared: 'Thank you for giving me back my life'

Mateen Cleaves speaks with reporters after being found not guilty of sexual assault charges: "I've been waiting for this moment for four years. I didn't do anything wrong." (Photo: Oralandar Brand-Williams / The Detroit News)

Flint — When the fourth "not guilty" verdict was pronounced Tuesday in Genesee County Circuit Court, Mateen Cleaves sobbed with relief.

"Thank you for giving me my life back," the former Michigan State basketball star told the jurors who had just acquitted him of sexually assaulting a woman in a Flint-area motel nearly four years ago.

Cleaves, 41, had faced up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the charges against him: unlawful imprisonment, assault with intent to commit criminal sexual penetration, second-degree criminal sexual conduct and third-degree criminal sexual conduct.