Sacramento Kings guard Darren Collison pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor domestic violence on Friday, via CSNCalifornia.com's James Ham. Collison was initially arrested on May 30 at his home in Granite Bay, California, and was charged by the Placer County District Attorney on June 17. Taking the plea deal means that Collison will not go to jail.
From CSNCalifornia.com:
According to the plea agreement, Collison received a 20-day jail sentence, which he will serve in an Alternative Sentencing Program, where he will work on community service projects overseen by Placer County. Collison will not serve any actual jail time.
"Words cannot describe the feelings and regret that I have been experiencing the last few months," Collison said in a statement. "My family and I found ourselves in such an unfamiliar situation and it has been a difficult few months. This is far from who I am as a person and not something I am proud of. I take full responsibility for my actions. I have apologized to my beautiful wife that I have known and loved since high schooI. I appreciate and am thankful for the love and understanding from my family, friends and supporters. Now it is time to put this behind us and move forward.
The Kings also released a statement: "Domestic violence is a serious issue across our nation and one that runs contrary to our organization's values. We're disappointed by Darren's behavior and today he accepted full responsibility for his actions. He is committed to using this incident to help raise awareness through education of this critical issue in the community. We're working with Darren and the NBA on the appropriate next steps."
In addition to community service, Collison was also sentenced to three years of informal probation and he is required to attend a 52-week "Batterer Treatment" class, which is mandatory by the state of California in all domestic violence convictions.
Collison is heading into the final year of a three-year, $16 million contract he signed in 2014. He was expected to be Sacramento's starting point guard when Rajon Rondo left in free agency, but now it looks like he could compete with the recently signed Ty Lawson for that job -- when his expected suspension is over, anyway.
The NBA has not yet announced any punishment for Collison, but in 2014, the league suspended Jeffery Taylor, then of the Charlotte Hornets, for 24 games. That followed Taylor pleading guilty and the NBA conducting its own investigation into the incident.
