Wizards' Gilbert Arenas charged with felony gun violation
Washington (CNN) -- Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas has been charged with a felony gun violation after admitting he drew guns in the team locker room in a highly publicized December 21 incident.
Arenas was charged with one count of carrying a pistol without a license, according to court documents filed Thursday.
There was no immediate comment from his attorney, Kenneth L. Wainstein. It wasn't immediately clear when Arenas, who has been indefinitely suspended from the NBA, would be arraigned on the charge. The document that describes the charge is called an "information," which is filed when a plea agreement has been reached.
Arenas described the incident as "a misguided effort to play a joke on a teammate" in a statement released earlier this month.
"Contrary to some press accounts, I never threatened or assaulted anyone with the guns and never pointed them at anyone. Joke or not, I now recognize that what I did was a mistake and was wrong."
Citing NBA sources, the New York Post reported in December that Arenas and Javaris Crittenton both brandished firearms in the team's locker room.
Crittenton's agent, Mark Bartelstein, said his client "hasn't done anything wrong. I'm extremely confident he'll be exonerated."
Asked if Crittenton brought a gun into the Verizon Center that day, Bartelstein said, "I'm not going to get into details." He said Crittenton has not met with authorities, nor has such a meeting been requested or scheduled.
Arenas, a three-time NBA All-Star, spent January 15 in a voluntary meeting with federal prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington and with District of Columbia metropolitan police, according to his attorney.
Arenas said he told authorities he stored four unloaded guns in his locker at the Verizon Center to keep them away from his children.
"I brought them without any ammunition into the District of Columbia, mistakenly believing that the recent change in the D.C. gun laws allowed a person to store unloaded guns in the District," he said.
He offered a public apology at the time to the league, his teammates and his fans, saying, "I promise to do better in the future."
He's just lucky to get this deal but it's now one complicated mess here in DC.
Peace
*We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
News Alert
03:01 PM EST Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Source: Arenas to be suspended for remainder of season
A person familiar with today's meeting between Gilbert Arenas and NBA
Commissioner David Stern said the Wizards' three-time all-star guard requested
to be suspended for the remainder of the season, and sources said that Stern
plans to abide by the request.
Smart move on his part now will his contract with the Wiz be voided or can it be voided?
Peace
*We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
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Washington (CNN) -- Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas has been charged with a felony gun violation after admitting he drew guns in the team locker room in a highly publicized December 21 incident.
Arenas was charged with one count of carrying a pistol without a license, according to court documents filed Thursday.
There was no immediate comment from his attorney, Kenneth L. Wainstein. It wasn't immediately clear when Arenas, who has been indefinitely suspended from the NBA, would be arraigned on the charge. The document that describes the charge is called an "information," which is filed when a plea agreement has been reached.
Arenas described the incident as "a misguided effort to play a joke on a teammate" in a statement released earlier this month.
"Contrary to some press accounts, I never threatened or assaulted anyone with the guns and never pointed them at anyone. Joke or not, I now recognize that what I did was a mistake and was wrong."
Citing NBA sources, the New York Post reported in December that Arenas and Javaris Crittenton both brandished firearms in the team's locker room.
Crittenton's agent, Mark Bartelstein, said his client "hasn't done anything wrong. I'm extremely confident he'll be exonerated."
Asked if Crittenton brought a gun into the Verizon Center that day, Bartelstein said, "I'm not going to get into details." He said Crittenton has not met with authorities, nor has such a meeting been requested or scheduled.
Arenas, a three-time NBA All-Star, spent January 15 in a voluntary meeting with federal prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington and with District of Columbia metropolitan police, according to his attorney.
Arenas said he told authorities he stored four unloaded guns in his locker at the Verizon Center to keep them away from his children.
"I brought them without any ammunition into the District of Columbia, mistakenly believing that the recent change in the D.C. gun laws allowed a person to store unloaded guns in the District," he said.
He offered a public apology at the time to the league, his teammates and his fans, saying, "I promise to do better in the future."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/14/gil ... enas.guns/
He's just lucky to get this deal but it's now one complicated mess here in DC.
Peace
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
03:01 PM EST Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Source: Arenas to be suspended for remainder of season
A person familiar with today's meeting between Gilbert Arenas and NBA
Commissioner David Stern said the Wizards' three-time all-star guard requested
to be suspended for the remainder of the season, and sources said that Stern
plans to abide by the request.
For more information, visit washingtonpost.com - http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/ ... DEHFR/50/t
Smart move on his part now will his contract with the Wiz be voided or can it be voided?
Peace
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)