Suspended Pacman settles last criminal charge, gets probation
Thursday, February 14, 2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Suspended Titans cornerback Pacman Jones settled his last pending criminal charge Thursday, pleading no contest to obstructing a police officer two years ago in Georgia.
Jones' attorney and agent, Manny Arora, said the player was sentenced to three years of probation for the run-in with police on Feb. 6, 2006, outside the family home of his pregnant girlfriend in Fayetteville, Ga.
A no contest plea in Georgia does not admit guilt, but doesn't dispute the charge.
"This allows us to state officially on the record that we don't feel our conduct was criminal," Arora said.
District Attorney Scott Ballard, who asked for five years probation, did not immediately return a telephone message left by the Associated Press.
Jones had been parked in a Bentley with his girlfriend and a friend outside her home in Fayetteville. Police noticed the car and approached Jones to talk with him.
They charged him with one felony count of obstruction of a police officer and two misdemeanors after they accused him of throwing a punch and biting an officer's hand.
News of that arrest and another the following month on a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession did not surface until March 2007, after Jones had been questioned by Las Vegas police about a strip club fight and triple shooting.
The marijuana charge was dismissed for lack of evidence in January 2007.
This case had been delayed repeatedly, with Arora arguing his client did nothing wrong. But Arora said they agreed to the no contest plea to settle the case and avoid going to trial.
A Tennessee judge last month dismissed public intoxication and disorderly conduct charges stemming from August 2006. With a no contest plea deal in Las Vegas in December, the Titans cornerback now has no further charges pending from his six arrests since being drafted into the NFL in 2005.
It's uncertain whether clearing the charges helps his push to return to the NFL.
Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Jones in April 2007 for the season and repeatedly told him he wanted to see proof through the cornerback's actions, not words, that he understood the privilege of playing in the league.
Goodell, who was asked about Jones' punishment before the Super Bowl, said he was disappointed with Jones' decision-making. The commissioner said he would give Jones more time, if needed, to understand what the NFL expects of him.
The Titans are expected to try trading Jones, their top pick in 2005, once he is reinstated.
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