USA Today: Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas has pleaded guilty to a felony charge of carrying a pistol without a license in the District of Columbia.The conviction puts his NBA future in some doubt.
Arenas, 28, was charged yesterday with a single count. As part of the plea deal, his lawyer said, prosecutors agreed to seek a sentence at the low end of the guidelines, which is no more than six months in jail. Sentencing is set for March 26.
The prosecutor offered details of what led to the charge, which grew out of a dispute with a teammate over a card game on the Wizards' flight home from Phoenix on Dec. 19, the Associated Press writes:
The three-time All-Star has previously acknowledged storing four unloaded guns in his locker at the Verizon Center, saying he wanted to keep them away from his young children and didn't know it was a violation of the city's strict gun laws. He says he took them out of the locker Dec. 21 in a "misguided effort to play a joke" on a teammate.
The charge was made hours after the teammate, Javaris Crittenton, had his Northern Virginia apartment searched by police looking for a silver- or chrome-colored semiautomatic handgun with a black handle. The search warrant indicated police were investigating crimes that include brandishing a weapon. No evidence was seized, according to court documents, and Crittenton has not been charged.
Possessing a gun at an NBA arena violates the league's collective bargaining agreement. Commissioner David Stern has suspended Arenas indefinitely without pay pending the outcome of the case.
No official comment so far from the Wizards or the NBA.
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