Second Panther Cheerleader Cops Plea

MARCH 13--It started with a bang in the bathroom of a Tampa nightclub, but the criminal case against those fun-loving Carolina Panthers cheerleaders today ended with a plea-bargained whimper.

Yes, like you, we're devastated.

Victoria Renee Thomas, the 21-year-old who triggered last year's fisticuffs in the women's loo at Banana Joe's, pleaded out today and was sentenced to 12 months probation, 50 hours of community service, and ordered to pay $400 restitution. Thomas (pictured left) will also have to attend an anger management class and is barred from financially benefiting from her crime.

So, sadly, there will be no straight-to-video recreation of what happened between her and fellow cheerleader Angela Keathley, 26, in that Florida stall. Like Thomas, Keathley, who copped a plea in January and was sentenced to probation, was booted from the Carolina pep squad following the incident.

In case the details have somehow slipped your mind, here you'll find statements given to Tampa cops by three female witnesses present in the bathroom during the November 6 melee. The trio contended that Keathley and Thomas were, um, frolicking together in the stall when miffed patrons waiting to use the facilities began calling them "bitches" and "whores."

According to the Tampa Police Department reports, witnesses claimed to hear moaning coming from the stall and contended that one woman was "going down" on the other, whose eyes had rolled back into her head. Thomas, blond in the photo at right, punched one of the waiting patrons in the face, while a plastered Keathley got rowdy with cops when they arrived. (6 pages)