BROWNSTOWN, Ind. (WDRB) -- Former University of Kentucky basketball and NBA star Rajon Rondo pleaded guilty Monday to misdemeanor unlawful possession of a gun stemming from a January traffic stop in southern Indiana.
As part of a plea bargain, charges of marijuana and drug paraphernalia were dismissed. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail, which was suspended.Â
Rondo was also credited for two days of time served, and put on probation for 180 days. During that time, Rondo must have a job, stay away from alcohol and drugs and pay court costs and probation fees.Â
Renn and Rondo left the hearing without comment.Â
Rondo's case had been postponed for months waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in a similar case revolving around the main charge he was facing, unlawful possession of a gun.
In June, the high court ruled upheld a federal law that bars anyone subject to a domestic-violence restraining order from possessing a gun. The court ruled 8-1 that the law does not violate the Constitution's Second Amendment.
That ruling undercut Rondo's main argument that the gun charge was "unconstitutional" and the Aug. 1 trial date was cancelled.Â
Renn said during the plea hearing that the ruling was the deciding factor for the plea agreement.Â
Rondo was stopped for a traffic violation in Jackson County on Jan. 28 after a caller reported a black 2022 Tesla weaving in and out of traffic and driving more than 100-miles-per-hour on Interstate 65 South.
He did not have a license plate and, when pulled over, a trooper smelled marijuana, leading to a search that found a 9mm gun, a "personal use" amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, according to court records.
The 9mm was loaded with a bullet in the chamber, prompting troopers to handcuff Rondo's hands behind his back "for scene safety," according to an affidavit of arrest filed by an Indiana State Police trooper.
Rondo was not supposed to have a firearm because he had a no-contact order taken out against him in court. The charges are all misdemeanors.
A juvenile in Rondo's vehicle at the time was released to a family member.
This is not Rondo's first brush with legal trouble.
In 2022, a Louisville woman asked for an emergency protective order after she said Rondo "became enraged" and threatened her life. According to the EPO, the woman said Rondo was playing video games with a child when she asked the child to finish separating his laundry so she could wash the family's clothes.
When the child got up to do so, she said Rondo ripped the video game console out of the wall, went downstairs, smashed a tea cup plate, knocked over several water bottles and began yelling and cursing. According to the EPO, Rondo then went outside and knocked over the trash cans, stomped on the landscaping lights and drove his car onto the lawn.
The EPO goes on to say that when she confronted Rondo, he said "You're dead."
After briefly leaving the house, the woman said Rondo came back and beat on a window with a gun.
Rondo, who played high school basketball in Louisville at Eastern before transferring to Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, was a standout point guard for Kentucky before being drafted with the 21st pick of the first round of the 2006 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns.
Rondo played 16 seasons in the NBA and won two NBA championships. He last played in the NBA in 2022 for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Earlier this year, the Greater Louisville Pride Foundation announced Rondo was one of six people in their Class of 2024 "hometown heroes" to get a banner to hang in the city.
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