AMES (AP) — A former Iowa State football player has pleaded guilty to looting dormitory rooms after the building was evacuated during a fire last November.

Jamel Joyner, 18, a freshman wide receiver from Mastic Beach, N.Y., pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary and apologized to District Judge William Pattinson on Monday.

“This has been a terrible experience for me. Through the process of making new friends and getting to know people, I got caught up and made the wrong decision and chose the wrong people to be around,” he said.

Also charged was Shaka Jones, a sophomore linebacker from Peoria, Ill. Jones faces additional charges, and his trial is pending.

Both were suspended from the team and Joyner, who did not play for the Cyclones in 1997, transferred to Middle Tennessee State University.

Police said the two stayed in Larch Hall while other students were evacuated Nov. 1 as firefighters battled a blaze caused by a lamp.

Students who returned to their rooms reported a missing videocassette recorder, textbooks, a Nintendo 64 video game and a cordless telephone. The VCR was later recovered in Joyner’s room.

On the recommendation of a prosecutor, Joyner received a deferred judgment, meaning the charge will be taken off his record if he completes two years’ probation and stays out of trouble.