Lance Stephenson has pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in the groping case of a 17-year-old Lincoln High girl, according to the New York Daily News.
He agreed to three days of community service and to seek counseling.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound Stephenson recently signed a financial aid deal with the University of Cincinnati.
He was to head to court on Wednesday but his lawyer struck a deal that will keep him out of jail. He was facing up to six months on a misdemeanor sexual assault charge.
“His lawyer moved up the court date from next week and had him take conditional discharge,” a source told the Daily News.
Stephenson’s attorney, Alberto Ebanks, has maintained his innocence throughout.
“Mr. Stephenson is looking forward to transitioning to college life and is pleased to put this matter behind him,” Ebanks told The News.
“We just want to move on and think about college,” Lance Stephenson Sr. told the newspaper. “We’re happy to be able to move on.”
Stephenson and teammate Darwin “Buddha” Ellis were accused of groping the student outside Lincoln last Oct. 3.
Several colleges subsequently pulled out of recruiting him because of a variety of issues, including the groping charge and concerns over his involvement with the BornReady.tv Website, a reality series focusing on Stephenson and his family.
Yet several coaches who had recruited him told me this week at the Reebok All-American Camp that they were not concerned about the Website and that the family hadn’t broken any NCAA rules.
With the court case out of the way, Stephenson appears headed to join the Bearcats next fall, where he will join a talented team that includes point guard Deonta Vaughn and big man Yancy Gates.
“We’ve done all of our due diligence and background as much as we could possibly do on Lance’s legal issues,” Bearcats coach Mick Cronin said previously. “Obviously, we feel comfortable that that’s going to be resolved. We obviously think he’s going to be cleared like every other freshman in the country or we wouldn’t have recruited him.”
Stephenson, who has not commented publicly since committing, is expected to leave New York for Cincinnati this week.
**Read the LANCE STEPHENSON TIMELINE HERE.
**See the VIDEO INTERVIEWS WITH LANCE HERE and HERE.
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(Photo courtesy Daily News)
USC.trojan / July 11, 2009
AZ,
Too much Philli cheesesteaks…..because…
Can you confirm if LS serves his comm. service and class….will the charge be wiped clean? I like to call it EX-sponged.
I surely hope this Banks included this in the agreement.
Otherwise…..bad decision.
Just because it stays on his record.
Probably a $25M dollar mistake …with endorsement GONE.
What do you think? MIstake or NOT.
Note:
What is UP with the USA team lossing.
Who are the coaches and how did they select the team?
BIG MISTAKE in NOT winning the GOLD.
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DiamondbackRuss / July 11, 2009
So much for “He’d like to clear his name.” And being innocent and this being an open and shut case. But the bottom line is it’s one hurdle cleared now onto the next one.
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jreeves5319 / July 11, 2009
That’s the same charge they hand out to Hookers…Hilarious!
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