Mike Danton
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Michael Danton (born Michael Jefferson on October 21, 1980 in Brampton, Ontario, Canada) is a felon and former professional ice hockey player. He is currently serving a prison sentence for conspiracy to murder his former agent, David Frost.
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Selected 135th overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, Danton was a left winger for the St. Louis Blues, who traded a 3rd round draft pick to New Jersey to obtain him. He played 68 games for the Blues in the 2003-04 season. While with the Devils organization, he changed his last name from Jefferson to Danton after becoming estranged from his family. He did admit he adopted the surname "Danton" from the name of a 13-year old boy at David Frost's hockey camp. He said he chose the name because it sounded "cool". He also feuded with New Jersey general manager Lou Lamoriello and was suspended by the team, prompting his eventual trade to St. Louis.
In spring 2004, two days after the Blues were eliminated from the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs by the San Jose Sharks, Danton was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder. On July 16, 2004, he pled guilty to attempting to hire a hitman, who was actually a police dispatcher, to murder David Frost, his agent. To this day, however, Frost denies that he was the target.
In November 2005 the CBC program the fifth estate aired a documentary, Rogue Agent, about the history between Danton and Frost. In it, the documentary casts light on the controlling relationship Frost had with Danton and how he encouraged Danton to estrange himself from his parents, as well as an alleged incident where Frost and a group of his players abused Mike's younger brother. The documentary also focuses on a taped telephone call Danton made to Frost a week after his arrest. In it, Frost instructs Danton to plead guilty and ends the conversation demanding Danton say, "I love you", which Danton does. In 2006, David Frost was charged with 12 counts of sexual exploitation for crimes alleged to have occurred during the time that he was Danton's junior hockey coach. The charges relate to acts on three females and four males between the ages of 14 and 16 and is awaiting trial.
Danton was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William Stiehl to 7½ years in a U.S. federal prison without a chance of parole, but then sought a transfer to a prison in Canada where he could have been paroled. Although this transfer was both recommended by Stiehl and unopposed by Danton's prosecutors, it was nonetheless rejected by the U.S. Justice Department in March 2006.
When Danton is released from prison he will be extradited to Canada. United States border policies would likely prohibit Danton from traveling to the U.S. This is likely to make a future NHL career infeasible, as Canadian teams in the NHL currently play 30 to 33 regular season games in the U.S. each season.
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1996-97 | Quinte Hawks | MetJHL | 35 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 281 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1997-98 | Sarnia Sting | OHL | 12 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 37 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1997-98 | St. Michael's Majors | OHL | 18 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 77 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1998-99 | St. Michael's Majors | OHL | 27 | 18 | 22 | 40 | 116 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1998-99 | Barrie Colts | OHL | 26 | 15 | 20 | 35 | 62 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 38 | ||
| 1999-00 | Barrie Colts | OHL | 58 | 34 | 53 | 87 | 203 | 25 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 107 | ||
| 2000-01 | Albany River Rats | AHL | 69 | 19 | 15 | 34 | 195 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2000-01 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2002-03 | New Jersey Devils | NHL | 17 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 35 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 2003-04 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 68 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 141 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| NHL Totals | 87 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 182 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Danton, Michael |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Michael Jefferson, Mike |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | ice hockey player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 21, 1980 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brampton, Ontario, Canada |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
Categories: 1980 births | Barrie Colts alumni | Canadian criminals | Canadian ice hockey left wingers | Ice hockey personnel from Ontario | Living people | New Jersey Devils draft picks | New Jersey Devils players | People from Brampton, Ontario | Sarnia Sting alumni | St. Louis Blues players | Toronto St. Michael's Majors alumni | Albany River Rats players