USA – Arenas expects to take plea deal on felony gun charge

WASHINTON (NBA) - Gilbert Arenas has been among the NBA's best and most popular players in recent years.

Now the 28-year-old Washington Wizards star faces a felony gun charge and is fighting to save his career.

Arenas, who admitted to storing unloaded firearms in his locker, turned the guns over to team security but has since been suspended indefinitely by NBA commissioner David Stern.

The fact that the incident has happened to a Washington Wizards player is sad and ironic.

The late Wizards owner, Abe Pollin, had changed the team's name from Bullets in the 1990s because of the violent connotation.

After being interviewed by law enforcement officials on January 4, Arenas’ lawyer released a statement on behalf of his client that was published on www.washingtonpost.com. The lawyer also included a separate statement by Arenas which said:

"I appreciated the opportunity to meet with law enforcement officials today. As the person who caused this trouble in the first place, I thought it was my duty to be the first witness to come forward and meet with the prosecutors and detectives. I told my attorney I wanted to get in for an interview as soon as we could arrange it, and that was today.

“I told the detectives and prosecutors the whole story about my storing the unloaded guns at the Verizon Center and what I was intending to do when I took them out of my locker on December 21st.

“As I have said before, I had kept the four unloaded handguns in my house in Virginia, but then moved them over to my locker at the Verizon Center to keep them away from my young kids. I brought them without any ammunition into the District of Columbia, mistakenly believing that the recent change in the DC gun laws allowed a person to store unloaded guns in the District.

“On Monday, December 21st, I took the unloaded guns out in a misguided effort to play a joke on a teammate. 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. I should not have brought the guns to DC in the first place, and I now realize that there's no such thing as joking around when it comes to guns -- even if unloaded.

“I am very sorry for the effect that my serious lapse in judgment has had on my team, my teammates, the National Basketball Association and its fans. I want to apologize to everybody for letting them down with my conduct, and I promise to do better in the future.

“I also want to thank the detectives and prosecutors on the case for the professionalism and courtesy they showed me during the interview today. I stand ready to continue to give my full cooperation to them and to the League as they investigate this incident."

Arenas is expected to take a plea deal after the U.S. Attorney's Office charged the Washington Wizards star for carrying a handgun without a license on Thursday.

The felony count is punishable by up to five years in prison although according to The Washington Post, sources close to the case have said Arenas will serve little or no jail time.

The NBA and FIBA are opposed to violence and NBA commissioner Stern takes a zero tolerance approach.

FIBA