New York Knicks Guard Raymond Felton Arrested
New York Knicks guard, Raymond Felton, was arrested Tuesday on gun charges and remains in custody. Felton’s wife, Ariane Raymondo-Felton, has alleged that he threatened her with a firearm. Felton was charged with second- and third-degree criminal possession of a firearm, which are felonies, and fourth-degree possession of a firearm, a misdemeanor, a police spokesman told ESPNNewYork.com. Police said Felton was in possession of a gun he wasn’t registered to have.
Sources have reported that the Felton kept the gun in question at his bedside and was in possesion of armor-piercing ammunition.
According to law enforcement officials, Raymondo-Felton brought a weapon to the police, which is reported to be a Belgian-made FN Five-seven. Raymmondo-Felton has also recently filed for divorce. Sources state that officers were stunned when they removed the magazine from the pistol and a bullet fell out, indicating the weapon was ready to fire. Further, sources report that Felton would wave the weapon around when he became irate – although he never pointed it at his wife, the source close to the case indicated.
Ariana, 26, a Cornell University grad now studying at Fordham University law school, filed for divorce last week after just 19 months of marriage. A police source said she was scared that the handgun was kept in the home. She had knowledge that the gun was there,” the source said. “She said she didn’t want the gun there anymore.”
Felton was asked recently if the divorce was affecting his play this season:
It’s your life. When you’re going through certain things in life it’s on your mind, no matter what. You try not to let it come into your job, into your workplace, but sometimes it does. You’re human and it’s a part of life. But at the same time, it is what it is. That’s my personal life, though; I don’t want to discuss that part.
New York City has strict gun possession laws. In 2009, New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress was sentenced to two years in prison after accepting a plea deal on a firearm charge following an incident in which he suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his thigh when his gun went off in a Manhattan nightclub.
Felton, 29, is in the midst of a three-year, $10 million contract with the Knicks that he signed prior to the 2012-13 season. He has struggled this season, his ninth in the NBA, shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from 3-point range while averaging 10.4 points per game. The Knicks were attempting to trade Felton prior to last week’s trade deadline, but were unable to find an acceptable trade partner.
If Felton’s divorce wasn’t a big enough problem for him, he now has all he can possibly handle with the multiple gun charges he is up against. If this scenario unfolds as Burress’ did, Raymond Felton will have a lot of time on his hands to contemplate where things went wrong.
