Ex-NBA Player Sebastian Telfair Sentenced to 3 1/2 Years in Prison

Former NBA player Sebastian Telfair has received punishment for an arrest back in 2017. According to TMZ Sports, the 34-year-old former NBA player has been sentenced to 3 ½ years behind bars for possessing an illegal firearm. Telfair had been facing up to 15 years in prison, but he received the minimum sentence.

Back in June 2017, Telfair was arrested after New York Police Department officers discovered three loaded firearms, a semi-automatic rifle, significant amounts of ammunition and a bullet-resistant vest in a car that he was driving. He had originally been pulled over for driving at 3:00 a.m. with his headlights turned off, but the officers conducted a search after smelling marijuana and seeing a burning blunt on the dashboard.

Along with the loaded firearms, officers also found two bags of marijuana. Both Telfair and his 18-year-old nephew, Jami Thomas, were arrested. No reason was given for Telfair having this arsenal in his car, but this was an illegal action in New York City. It didn't matter that the guns were licensed in Florida, per Telfair's attorney. According to NYC criminal defense attorney Jeremy Saland, "You could even have a permit to carry a gun elsewhere in the state of New York, but if you don't have the requisite license in the City you will face a criminal charge."

Saland continued to explain that New York's firearm laws are among the strictest in the nation. Being stopped with an unlicensed firearm is almost guaranteed to bring a prison sentence.

"If you possess a loaded firearm outside your home or place of business without the requisite permit," Saland said in 2017, "you will spend a minimum of three and a half years in a cold cell somewhere upstate upon conviction. Even more frightening, you could be calling state prison 'home' for five, ten and up to fifteen years."

Originally a first-round pick of the Portland Trail Blazers back in 2004, Telfair spent 10 years in the NBA and appeared in 564 games. Unfortunately, his career was known for legal problems, many of which were due to handguns. In 2006, Telfair was fined by the Blazers after a loaded handgun was found in his pillowcase prior to a team flight. Additionally, he was arrested in Yonkers, New York in 2007 for second-degree possession of a handgun after being pulled over for speeding.