Dallas Mavericks' Raymond Felton has been caught up in a gun case in New York City. The star point guard pleaded guilty taking a plea deal that involved admitting a felony but spares him jail. Felton admitted that he owns high end fire arms that are unlicensed. He owns large-capacity ammunition magazine and a semi-automatic pistol.
Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Larry Stephen asked Felton if the accusations were true and Felton directly admitted the charges in a soft voice saying "''I apologize. I realize what I did was wrong."
For admitting the offense, he was instantaneously sentenced to 500 hours of community service and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine. According to Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Rebold, he is allowed to do the service outside New York.
If Felton will comply with the sentence, he won't be subjected to jail time or probation and the case will be closed.
According to James Walden, Felton's attorney, "At this point, Raymond is looking forward to starting the next chapter of his life and focusing on success in Dallas."
Dallas Mavericks declined to give a comment with this issue. Also, NBA, who continuously monitors the case, has declined to comment. For NBA, they usually wait for the case to be resolved before giving sanctions.
The gun case resulted after Felton's law student wife filed for divorce. Her attorney brought a loaded semi-automatic gun to one of the police precincts in NYC and informed them that it was owned by Felton and that she wanted to have it out of the house. For the record, Walden has said that Felton never threatened anyone with a gun.
After the police contacted the NBA player, he directly surrendered to them after their Mavericks-Knicks game at Madison Square Garden.
Felton started his NBA career in 2005. He was drafted 5th overall in the 2005 NBA Draft. Over his career, Felton has been a member of the Charlotte Bobcats, New York Knicks (twice), Denver Nuggets, and Portland Trail Blazers. Last season, Felton missed 17 games while battling injuries and averaged a career-low 9.7 points as the Knicks went 37-45 and missed the playoffs.
