Arenas exempted from jail time for gun charge

WASHINGTON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- NBA star Gilbert Arenas avoided from jail term for taking guns into the Wizards locker room, a judge instead sentencing him to 30 days in a halfway house on Friday.

Gilbert Arenas, All-Star guard for the NBA's Washington Wizards, departs  after being sentenced to two years' probation on firearms charges for  bringing guns into the team's locker room, at Superior Court in Washington,  March 26, 2010. Arenas and team mate Javaris Crittenton brought guns to  the team's arena after a dispute during a flight home from a game in  December. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Robert E. Morin sentenced Arenas, who had pleaded guilty on January 15 to a felony gun charge of carrying an unlicensed pistol, a violation of the U. S. capital's strict gun laws.

Prosecutors had recommended that the player be sentenced to three months in jail.

In addition to the time in a halfway house, Arenas was sentenced to 400 hours of community service, which cannot be conducted at basketball clinics. He was fined 5,000 dollars and must register as a gun offender.

He is already suspended from the National Basketball Association through the remainder of the season.

Arenas, whose actions in the wake of the event irked NBA officials who felt he didn't take the incident seriously, apologized in court.

The charge against Arenas stemmed from a December 21 locker room incident between him and teammate Javaris Crittenton, in which Arenas brought several guns to the team's facility.

Crittenton, who is also suspended by the NBA, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge and had already been sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation.