Gilbert Arenas arrives at D.C. Superior Court on Friday. (Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press)Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas pleaded guilty Friday to carrying a pistol without a licence in the District of Columbia, a felony conviction that could jeopardize his future in the NBA.
Arenas pleaded guilty to a single count of violating the city's strict gun laws as part of a plea bargain in D.C. Superior Court.
The charge stems from a Dec. 21 incident in which Arenas admitted that he stored guns in his locker at the Verizon Center and took them out to play a joke on a teammate.
The NBA has suspended him indefinitely.
Arenas will be sentenced on March 26. A pre-sentence report is not yet complete, but defence lawyer Kenneth Wainstein said Friday prosecutors have agreed not to seek a sentence longer than the low end of sentencing guidelines. That means Arenas likely faces no more than six months behind bars.
"[Arenas] accepted full responsibility for his actions, acknowledged that those actions were wrong and against the law, and has apologized to all who have been affected by his conduct," Wainstein said in a statement.
Ever since Arenas first acknowledged keeping guns in his locker, he has publicly employed the "goof ball" defence, claiming he wasn't aware of the law, meant no harm and never takes anything seriously.
Wizards teammate Antawn Jamison said Friday he hasn't talked to Arenas.
'Tough-minded individual'
"Hopefully he's doing better than what I'd be doing in the situation or better than I expect," Jamison said from the team's morning practice in Chicago. "But one thing about Gilbert, he's a tough-minded individual."
The three-time all-star has 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.
He was charged Thursday, hours after the teammate, Javaris Crittenton, had his northern Virginia apartment searched by police looking for a silver- or chrome-coloured 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.
Arenas and Crittenton started bickering over gambling losses during a card game on the team plane as the Washington Wizards flew home from a West Coast road trip Dec. 19.
Their dispute became heated when the team reconvened for practice two days later, when Arenas took the guns from his locker.
Conflicting accounts
There have been conflicting published accounts as to whether Crittenton also had a gun and whether he drew it on Arenas.
Crittenton has previously said he did nothing wrong, and his agent, Mark Bartelstein, said his client was there during the apartment search.
"It went as smooth as it could have gone," Bartelstein said.
Even if Arenas avoids jail, the outcome of the legal process will have important implications on his future in the NBA and specifically with the Wizards.
Possession of a gun at an NBA arena is a violation of the league's collective bargaining agreement, and last week commissioner David Stern suspended Arenas indefinitely without pay pending the outcome of the investigation, a move supported by the Wizards.
Stern was particularly upset Arenas repeatedly joked about the matter with reporters and on Twitter. Arenas at one point said: "I'm a goof ball and that's what I am, so even doing something like this, I'm going to make fun of it and that's how I am."
