49ers LB Aldon Smith Gets Probation, County Work For Guns, DUI Violations

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On Friday, a Santa Clara County judge sentenced San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith to jail time, fines and probation for illegal possession of assault weapons and driving his motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol but the football star will spend no actual time in prison.

Smith has been ordered by the Superior Court Judge Daniel Nishigaya to serve 12 days in prison and 3 years probation but he was given credit for 1 day served and will be permitted to serve his sentence on consecutive once-a-week work days beginning from 28th of July. This effectively keeps him from serving time in prison. He also was sentenced for the weapons charges, to 235 hours community service, and he has to pay an amount of $2,000 in fine and a prohibition on possessing guns or ammunition for 3 years.

The football player who is 24-year-old could have received the sentence up to 4 years and 4 months in prison but Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Brian Buckelew said he thought the sentence is enough. Some of the weapons and DUI counts were originally filed as felonies but Nishigaya decreased them all to misdemeanors.

After the San Jose courtroom hearing, Buckelew said, “The judge considered all the evidence in front of him, and I think his ruling was completely reasonable”.

According to the authorities, the charges aroused from a party at Smith’s rented home in the foothills east of San Jose on 29th of June 29 2012, during which he fired a handgun into the air and was stabbed, 2 other individuals were shot.

Smith illegally possessed an Armalite AR10-T .308-caliber rifle, a Bushmaster ACR that takes 5.56mm NATO cartridges and a Bushmaster Carbon 15 .223-caliber rifle, said the prosecutors. Smith purchased the guns legally in Arizona a day prior to a road game in 2011 during his rookie season.

In May, he pleaded no contest to the weapons charges as well as the driving under the influence charges that are connected with the accident that occurred on 20th of September in San Jose. Because of the drunk-driving accident, he entered a treatment facility.

The loss of Smith will be difficult to bear for the team as his 42 sacks in 43 games is a great production to begin an NFL career.

Last season, Smith’s absence in 5 games when he admitted himself into an undisclosed alcohol rehabilitation center coincided with a five-game winning streak by the 49ers.

Now the sentence is decided due to which Smith will miss more time. 1st time suspensions are typically 4 games long, since Smith was convicted of more than one infractions, he can be suspended for 6 or 8 games.

If Smith does miss more games, veteran Dan Skuta, second-year player Corey Lemonier, and rookie Aaron Lynch will compete to play time in his absence.

Commissioner Roger Goodell determines the suspensions for violations of league’s personal conduct policy and he stopped from suspending Smith last season because Smith missed 5 games.

News Source: www.SFGate.com