Winter Classic beating: Dennis Veteri sentenced to house arrest; Is that enough?

Dennis Veteri savagely beat up Rangers fans in a cheesesteak line after the Winter Classic. He tarnished the image of Flyers fans and the City of Philadelphia even further in doing so, but people got angry and tried to do something about it. Now that something has officially happened.

Veteri, 33, was sentenced in common pleas court on Friday to between 11 and a half and 23 months of house arrest, followed by five years of probation, according to the Daily News. He’ll be allowed to leave home for work and drug/alcohol treatment classes, and he’ll also have to uproot from South Jersey and move into the city limits.

HIs lawyer apparently argued for house arrest, while the DA was looking for up to a four year prison sentence. His lawyer called him a “good man” after the sentence was handed down Friday. Via the DN:

“He’s a good man who had a bad day. He’s going to have to pay for this for the next seven years because his liberty is totally restricted,” said DeFino

…

Veteri, who pleaded guilty, told the judge that he loves his family more than himself and “he will never mess up again.”

I understand that people make mistakes and everybody certainly deserves a second chance. But I still find it tough to fathom that anybody with the “hey, let’s beat that guy up because of the team he likes” bone in their body is just a “good person who had a bad day.” It’s hard for me to understand what makes those people tick, and that’s regardless of whether alcohol and drugs fuel that thought process.

Neal Auricchio, the Rangers fan who took the brunt of Veteri’s beating, had his face beaten in. According to the DN report, “his vision is improving” after the attack … or, put another way, it’s been nearly a year and he’s not back to full health yet. Just because he likes cheesesteaks and likes Ryan Callahan at the same time.

Do you think house arrest is enough for this crime, or did Veteri get off easy here?

Is this sentence enough?