Former Maryland star Lonny Baxter arranged a plea bargain after being
arrested for shooting off a Glock near the White House, expecting that the judge
would accept the prosecution's request for probation. Unfortunately for
Lonny, he
thought wrong.
Gary Williams appeared in court on Baxter's behalf and praised him for
working with kids and continuing to pursue his degree.
The judge wasn't having any of it.
He gave him nine months in jail, suspending all but 60 days, and told him
"In imposing sentence, I have to consider . . . not only your desire that
your punishment not interfere with your basketball career but my responsibility
to the citizens o the District of Columbia. . . . And I'm sorry, sir, because I
recognize the serious consequences that this will have on your career, but
you're the one that took the actions, you're the one that chose to purchase that
gun, to load it, to carry it in your SUV and to fire it into the air, and you're
the one that will have to suffer the consequences for your deliberate and
intentional actions."
He didn't tell him, but someone should have pointed it out, that even though
he was playing cowboy or whatever, that bullets fired up will eventually fall to
earth and when they do, there's certainly a chance they could hit someone.
He's no doubt shocked and depressed over how his case ended, but it could
have been much worse.