Cuvo, 48, was willing to admit he endangered a 14-year-old boy by driving drunk with the teen last August in Nazareth, Pa. However, he refused to admit he furnished vodka to the teen.
The assistant district attorney said the teenager, his parents and police were willing to agree to a guilty plea to recklessly endangering the teen, a misdemeanor, for Cuvo, who won a Pennsylvania state title at Easton High School, then claimed back-to-back Division I titles for East Stroudsburg University in 1988 and 1989.
In turning down the plea bargain, Northampton County judge Paula Roscioli said she was concerned over the larger accusations, given that Cuvo works with children as a wrestling coach. Without assurances that the boy had recanted his claims to police, she said, she was reluctant to allow those charges to be dropped.
"I have to be concerned about the potential future victims as well," said Roscioli, who scheduled Cuvo's trial for April. Cuvo remains charged with recklessly endangering another person, furnishing alcohol to a minor and public drunkenness.
Cuvo's court appearance this week sprang from an alleged incident from late August 2015. At that time, the mat legend reportedly flagged down a Nazareth police officer outside a hotel in that community. Court records indicate the officer described Cuvo as having an "unsteady gait, bloodshot glassy eyes, and slurred speech and a very angry demeanor." The officer went on to say the former wrestler was angry because the bartender had taken his keys from him.
A hotel bartender told police Cuvo had entered the bar drunk and was drinking for about an hour and a half when a 14-year-old came into the bar and said he was afraid to leave without Cuvo. Police contacted the teen's parents, who picked him up and drove him to the police station, where the youngster told officers that Cuvo had forced him to drink vodka with him while they were at Cuvo's home. Cuvo then drove to the bar with the teen, allegedly making him wait in the car while Cuvo went inside to continue drinking, according to court records.
Over the past decade, Cuvo -- who runs a wrestling supply business that bears his name -- has found himself in the news for incidents beyond the sport. In 2005 he received a $2.5 million settlement from Easton police after he was allegedly beaten following a traffic stop in the city. Police charged him with assaulting the officers, but he was later acquitted of those charges.
In 2009, Cuvo was the subject of a brief manhunt after relatives found a suicide note in his home. In 2010, he pleaded guilty to theft after breaking into his estranged wife's home in Wilson to "get his dog."
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