Wizards’ Arenas is sentenced

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Suspended Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas was ordered Friday to spend 30 days in a halfway house for his conviction on gun charges stemming from a locker-room confrontation with a teammate.

District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Robert E. Morin also sentenced Arenas to 400 hours of community service, which cannot be conducted at basketball clinics, and a $5,000 fine.

Arenas apologized in court, saying, “Every day, I wake up wishing it did not happen.”

Arenas pleaded guilty to violating the city’s gun laws in a Dec. 21 incident at Verizon Center.

Following an argument over an unpaid gambling debt totaling a few hundred dollars, Arenas brought several guns to the team locker room and set them near Javaris Crittenton’s locker with a sign telling him to “PICK 1.”

“The evidence is that both of you felt disrespected,” Morin told Arenas. “Rather than acting like mature adults, you escalated the incident” by bringing guns to practice.

After sentencing, Arenas’ lawyer, Ken Wainstein, said he was pleased with the outcome.

“Judge Morin’s decision was fair and measured; it reflected a deep understanding of the relevant facts ... Mr. Arenas is grateful to the court and looks forward to serving the community and once again being a force for good in the District of Columbia,” Wainstein said in a statement.

In court papers, prosecutors said Crittenton had a legitimate reason to believe Arenas’ threat was genuine.

Prosecutors had wanted Arenas to go to jail for at least three months. They said he lied repeatedly about why the guns were in the locker room and tried to cover up what had happened. They also said he knew bringing guns into D.C. was illegal and has a prior gun conviction.