Washington DC native Delonte West, guard for the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, pled guilty recently to weapons charges stemming from his arrest in Prince George’s County Maryland. West’s guilty plea came as part of a plea agreement that would allow him to play during the upcoming NBA season. Under the terms of the plea bargain, the NBA player will serve eight months of home detention, two months of supervised probation, forty hours of community service, and two years of unsupervised probation. Additionally, Delonte West is required to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and to undergo counseling and alcohol treatment.
The weapons charges came after West was arrested in September for cutting off a police officer while changing lanes. The basketball player, who was driving a three-wheeled motorcycle called a Can-Am Spyder, was found to be carrying a Beretta 9mm handgun in his waistband, a Ruger .357 magnum strapped to his leg, and a shotgun in a guitar case strapped to his back. All three guns were loaded. West was also carrying an eight-inch Bowie knife and 100 shotgun shells. According to West’s Prince George’s County criminal lawyer, the NBA player was transporting the weapons from his mother’s house to his own home in Fort Washington.
Originally charged with six weapons offenses, West pled guilty to carrying a dangerous weapon for his possession of the Bowie knife and to illegally transporting a handgun. As part of his community service, Delonte West plans to speak with at-risk youth in Washington DC. Of his public service, West says, “If I never dribble a basketball again, I think I found my calling.”
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