Nick Hogan gets eight months in jail

Nick Hogan was escorted to jail immediately after receiving his sentence.

By LISA FRESOLONE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
May 9th 2008

Hulk Hogan's teenage son pleaded no contest to felony reckless driving charges Friday.

Nick Bollea, 17, (a.k.a. Nick Hogan) was charged for an August 2007 car wreck in Florida that left his passenger and friend John Graziano with permanent, severe mental and physical damage.

In exchange for his plea, Bollea's lawyers asked that he not serve more than a year in a county prison and no more than five years of probation. Without the plea bargain, Bollea could have served up to five years in a state penitentiary.

Bollea said to the court, "I miss John being around me all the time. I know this has been extremely difficult for the Grazianos, and it has also been extremely difficult to my family, and I feel terrible about it."

Twelve witnesses testified that Bollea was drag racing on wet roads that evening, and that he had been ticketed for speeding in the past.

Graziano's sister, Kristen Carson, told the court, "We have never once heard him apologize. He has never said sorry."

The Hulk spoke on his son's behalf: "Nick is not the person that he's been asked to be portrayed on TV. ... Nick is a good person. He is kind, he is gentle, he's compassionate, and he doesn't have a bad bone in his body. And people fail to realize that Nick is still a 17-year-old child."