New York Knicks point guard Raymond Felton was arraigned on two felony weapons possession charges Tuesday in Manhattan, but prosecutors might have helped save his career by declining to bring a more serious charge that requires a minimum of 3 1/2 years in prison if convicted.
New York police originally booked him on three gun-related charges, including second-degree criminal gun possession, which brings a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 3 1/2 years if convicted, according to gun-law experts in New York.
The Manhattan District Attorney's office declined to file that second-degree charge at his arraignment, and a person in the office declined to say why when contacted by USA TODAY Sports. The person requested anonymity because they had not be authorized to speak publicly.
Instead, the prosecutors charged Felton with two lesser felonies that do not carry mandatory minimum prison sentences in New York, home of some of the nation's strictest gun-control laws.
Bail for Felton, 29, was set at $25,000. His next court date is June 2.
Generally, when prosecutors decline to file certain charges, it's because they don't believe the evidence supports them according to the law.
A New York Police Department official told USA TODAY Sports that Felton's wife and attorney dropped off an unregistered, Belgian semiautomatic pistol (FNH model 5.7x28mm) that they said belonged to Felton. The official requested anonymity because they had not be authorized to speak publicly.
Police said on four separate occasions Felton had a firearm in his hand during arguments with his wife, waving it but not pointing it at her.
When the wife and her attorney dropped off the gun, it was loaded with 18 rounds of live ammunition, authorities said.
The facts and her story led police to charge Felton with second-degree felony gun possession, which involves having intent to use it against another person. Felton still faces punishment, including possible jail time or probation, if he's convicted of the other two charges: third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm. But unlike the second-degree charge, he won't get a mandatory prison sentence if convicted, attorneys said.
NFL receiver Plaxico Burress faced a second-degree criminal gun possession charge in 2009 after he accidentally shot himself in the leg with an illegal gun in New York nightclub in 2008. He could have received the minimum 31/2-year sentence, but instead reached a plea deal with prosecutors that gave him a lighter sentence — two years in prison after pleading guilty to the lesser charge of attempted weapons possession.
"(The Felton case) is not Plaxico Burress," said Joe Tacopina, a New York criminal attorney who is not involved in the Felton case. "That (the Burress case) was loaded, outside the home and discharged."
Felton, who was arrested Tuesday morning, is in his ninth NBA season and is averaging 10.4 points per game for the struggling Knicks. He was a first-round draft pick out of North Carolina in 2005.
Follow Brent Schrotenboer on Twitter @Schrotenboer. E-mail: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
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