WASHINGTON — Suspended Washington Wizards sharpshooter Gilbert Arenas pleaded guilty this afternoon to felony gun charges stemming from an incident last month inside the team’s locker room.
In the plea deal, DC prosecutors recommended that Arenas, 28, who was aiming for no jail time, face a maximum sentence of six months behind bars after he waived his right to a trial.
The charge — carrying a pistol without a license in violation of DC law — carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, officials said.
“Playing with firearms is no joke,” said US Attorney Phillips. “Today’s guilty plea to a felony count of carrying a pistol without a license reflects the seriousness and grave risk of such conduct. Such reckless action can always be expected to garner a swift and firm response from this Office. We commend Mr. Arenas for accepting responsibility and hope he fully appreciates the gravity of his actions.“
Arenas, who was let go after agreeing to release his passport, is scheduled to be sentenced in a DC courttoom on March 26.
Arenas, who wore a black, pinstriped suit, entered the plea after The Post exclusively revealed Jan. 1 that he had displayed the guns in the locker room after he and teammate Javaris Crittenton argued about a gambling debt.
Since then, it has been disclosed that during the confrontation on Dec. 21, Arenas put his guns next to Crittenton’s locker with a note that said “pick one.”
Crittenton then allegedly pulled his own gun and loaded it.
The feds said that on Dec. 24, following the first report to law enforcement that Arenas had possessed firearms in the locker room, members of the Metropolitan Police Department responded to Virginia, where Arenas’s four firearms were surrendered to cops.
These unloaded firearms consisted of a .50-caliber Gold-Plated semi-automatic Desert Eagle with magazine; a 500 magnum, Smith and Wesson revolver; a .45 caliber, black semi-automatic Kimber Eclipse with magazine; and a 9 millimeter Browning with a magazine, prosecutors said.
Arenas, who has a six-year, $111 million contract, has said the guns were unloaded at the time.
He met with prosecutors earlier this month to explain why he took the weapons out while in the locker room. Arenas had insisted it had been a “misguided effort to play a joke on a teammate,“ according to a statement he released earlier this month.
The NBA All-Star said he had moved the unloaded guns from his Virginia home to the locker room to keep them away from his kids.
Arenas was indefinitely suspended without pay last week by NBA Commissioner David Stern for joking about the incident — particularly for miming shooting teammates during a pre-game huddle in Philadelphia.
Over the past week, Wizards management have also taken down a banner featuring his image from outside of the Verizon Center, stopped displaying his No. 0 jersey and removed all references to him in the introductory video played before home games.