Gilbert Arenas Enters Guilty Plea to Felony Gun Possession
Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas entered a guilty plea to felony gun possession.
His sentencing is scheduled for March 26.
According to the Washington Post, Arenas pleaded guilty Friday in D.C. Superior Court to a felony count of carrying a gun without a license, leaving a cloud of uncertainty over his NBA career.
As previously reported, under a plea deal Arenas will probably not serve more than six months in jail.
The charge carried a possible jail term of up to five years but Arenas pleaded guilty to violating the city's gun laws as part of a plea agreement, the AP reports.
As previously discussed, authorities charged Arenas with the felony gun violation after he admitted he drew guns in the team's locker room during a standoff with teammate Javaris Crittenton on Dec. 21 at the Verizon Center.
The teammates were involved in a confrontation around a reported dispute over a poker debt.
Since then, the Gilbert Arenas gun case has led NBA commissioner David Stern to suspend the Wizards point guard without pay indefinitely.
In a recent statement, Arenas insisted that the incident was a "misguided effort to play a joke on a teammate."
The conviction on felony gun possession would give Stern the justification to go from an indefinite suspension to a ban if he so chose.
Possessing a gun at an NBA arena violates the league's collective bargaining agreement.
Arenas, 28, still has about $80 million left on his $111 million six-year contract left.
Arenas could have been charged with four counts of illegal gun possession -- one for each of the pistols in the locker room. But as part of the plea agreement, he faced one charge.
As a result, the conviction puts his NBA future in some doubt.
- Arenas Pleads Guilty to Gun Charge (Off the Dribble, NY Times Blog)
- Athletes, Guns, and Plea Agreements (The Atlantic Wire)
- Gun Control Laws (FindLaw)