Gilbert Arenas Enters Guilty Plea to Felony Gun Charges

Suspended Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas pled guilty to one felony criminal charge in Washington, D.C. today (read the plea agreement below) for carrying a pistol without a license. The plea followed his gun charges yesterday elated to a December 21, 2009 dispute that he and teammate Javaris Crittenton in the Wizards' locker room over a gambling debt.

According to prosecutors, the argument stemmed from mutual threats that Arenas and Crittenton had to shoot one another. The threats occured after a card game aboard a charted flight that the Wizards took from Phoenix Arizona back home to the Washington, D.C. area.

According to his statement of facts in the case, Arenas admitted that prosecutors would have proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that:

• Arenas threatened to " 'burn' [Crittenton]'s vehicle or shoot him in the face"
• That "[t]he other player told Arenas that he would 'shoot the f--k' out of Arenas and that he would shoot Arenas in his knee"
• Laid out four handguns in the Wizards' locker room, and wrote "Pick 1" on a pice of paper on The Other Player's chair

Law enforcement officials confirmed that Arenas brought four (4) pistols from his Viriginia home to the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., and that Arenas told the Wizards management that Crittendon also had a weapon.

The list of Arenas' handguns guns includes:

• A 50-caliber Gold-Plated semi-automatic Desert Eagle handgun with a magazine;
• A 500 magnum, Smith and Wesson revolver;
• A .45 caliber, black semi-automatic Kimber Eclipse handgun with a magazine; and
• A 9 millimeter Browning handgun with a magazine.

Arenas is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court on March 26, 2010. Under the terms of his plea agreement, federal prosecutors agreed to limit the suspended basketball player's plea allocation to the low reange of sentencing guidelines, roughly between 6 and 24 months.

Prosecutors also agreed that they were also amenable to Arenas serving probation, a split-sentence, or jail time.

Of course, only the judge in the case can make that deterimination under federal sentencing guidelines.

You can view the single felony charge against Arenas here:

You can read Gilbert Arenas' signed plea agreement, statement of facts, and waiver of indictment here:

Related Resources:

• Gilbert Arenas Pleads Guilty in Gun Case | Photos Reuters (Jan. 15, 2010)
• US Attorney's Office Charges Arenas with Felony Gun Possession FindLaw (Jan. 15, 2010)
• Arenas Suspended Indefinitely Over Gun Incident, Reuters (Jan. 6, 2010)
• Wizards Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton pull pistols on each other New York Post (Jan. 1., 2010)
• Gun Control Laws, FindLaw
• D.C. Handgun Lawsuit: Suing for Carry Permits FindLaw (Aug. 7, 2009)
• U.S. Supreme Court Opinion (D.C. v. Heller) holding D.C.'s handgun ban unconstitutional. FindLaw (June 26, 2008)