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No jail for Jones in club melee

'Pacman' must testify against gunman

It's now official: NFL player Adam "Pacman" Jones won't face jail time in connection with a brawl inside a Las Vegas Valley strip club.

At the Regional Justice Center downtown Thursday, the 24-year-old Tennessee Titans cornerback formally accepted a plea deal that gives him probation. In exchange, he must testify against the person who shot three people at the Minxx strip club immediately after the fight in the wee hours of Feb. 19, at the end of Las Vegas' NBA All-Star game weekend. One of the wounded, a bouncer, was left a quadriplegic.


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  • Police said Jones had threatened the club's staff just before the shooting, and witnesses said Jones was seen inside the club with the man who fired the shots.

    The gunman had not been arrested and charged for the shooting as of Thursday. Clark County District Attorney David Roger said this week that Jones had provided the authorities with some information about the shooter, but Roger said he couldn't elaborate because the shooting was still being investigated.

    Jones pleaded no contest to one count of conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct, a gross misdemeanor.

    Under the agreement, Jones will receive a one-year suspended sentence, must complete 200 hours of community service, submit to random drug testing and attend an anger management class.

    The probation and community service requirements might be fulfilled near Jones' home in Tennessee, said his lawyer, Robert Langford. Jones already is subject to the NFL's drug testing program.

    Authorities dropped two felony coercion charges against Jones in exchange for the guilty plea.

    Jones, who is seeking reinstatement to the Titans, said little during the brief arraignment. He wore a black button-up shirt with white pinstripes that was not tucked into his pants.

    As he walked into the crowded arraignment room in the basement of the courthouse, Jones doffed a blue Texas Rangers baseball cap, handed it off, and answered "Yes, sir," to Hearing Master Kevin Williams when Williams asked him if he understood the plea deal.

    Jones stood in the arraignment room with his attorney.

    When Williams asked Jones for his plea to the charges, he replied, "No contest, sir."

    Jones' two co-defendants, Sadia Morrison, 25, of New York, and Jones' bodyguard, Robert "Big Rob" Reid, 37, of Carson, Calif., were arraigned alongside Jones and agreed to similar deals. The trio had been expected to enter pleas Wednesday, but the hearing was delayed a day because Reid missed his flight out of Los Angeles, Langford said.

    Outside the courthouse Thursday, passers-by stared at the throngs of reporters and photographers circling Jones as he walked from the courthouse steps to a waiting car.

    "What the hell?" asked Nathan Walley, who was walking away from the courthouse as Jones walked out. "It's just stupid."

    A cameraman for the local ABC affiliate KTNV-TV, Channel 13, said Jones pushed him after accidentally walking into his camera. "It wasn't a big deal," said the cameraman, Jason Valle.

    Jones' plea agreement enraged Tommy Urbanski and his wife, Kathy. The shooting left Tommy Urbanski paralyzed, and the couple has been living at a Residence Inn since Aug. 25 while their house is being renovated to make it handicapped accessible.

    Urbanski, who has struggled through numerous surgeries, said that if he had a chance to speak to Jones, he wouldn't say anything, because if he did say something, "it would probably just be a bunch of curses."

    The Urbanskis also are eager to see the person who fired the shots brought to justice.

    "I want the guy who shot me," Urbanski said. "If he's (Jones) getting probation just because the district attorney wants to go light on him, I'll be pissed."

    Authorities said Jones started the fight inside the strip club at 4636 Wynn Road, near Arville Street and Tropicana Avenue, after he threw hundreds of dollars onto the stage for a visual effect known as "making it rain." Jones "became irate" and got into a fight with bouncers in the club after strippers started taking the money, police said.

    The shooting occurred near the front of the club after Jones and his entourage had been kicked out.

    Jones has been arrested six times since the Titans drafted him in April 2005 from West Virginia and has other criminal cases pending.

    A felony count of obstruction in Georgia from a February 2006 arrest has been postponed, and August 2006 public intoxication and disorderly charges in Tennessee were delayed pending the outcome of the Las Vegas case.

    In April, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Jones for the season for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy. Goodell upheld the suspension after he met with Jones in early November.

    The Urbanskis have filed a civil suit against Jones seeking damages. So have the other two people wounded by gunfire in the shooting, Minxx bouncer Aaron Cudworth and patron Natalie Jones.

    "He's (Jones) come within inches of ruining both our lives," Kathy Urbanski said. "I would never say he ruined our lives because I don't want to give him that much power."

    The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-1039.

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    sjc wrote on December 08, 2007 02:00 AM: shady, it is up to the LVMPD to hand the DA a prosecutable case winnable by jury trial. If you think the only corruption is in the DA's office you are only kidding yourself. Why didn't LVMPD ever charge anyone in the Kirk Henry case? Why did it take the Feds to step in? Whether you are a victim or the perp, it is all about who you are and who represents you in Clark County. You can get whatever you need from either side of the fence when you have Metro or the DA in your pocket.

    In the Treasures case I mentioned LVMPD is allowing the perps to peddle their influence to avoid ever being charged at all or even having their accomplices identified. This happens BEFORE the DA ever sees the case. It is up to LVMPD to investigate the crime and hand the case to the DA for prosecution. If the DA never sees a prosecutable case how can you blame them for Metro's intentional ineffectiveness to investigate the crime in the first place.

    And no thanks, I am not crooked enough to infiltrate the ranks of LVMPD


    steve wrote on December 07, 2007 09:11 PM: Frankly I am fed up with all of these non-talented thugs, ho's and most of these so called actors and musicians ending up with all of the money and treating the rest of society like 2nd and 3rd class citizens. I am a kung fu expert and am very good looking and have tried for years to get into the movie industry, but no responses, yet moronic idiots like this "pacman" fool, who gets his job from affirmative blacktion, makes millions and acts like a big time thug. Look at his face, I'd like to kick it in, arrogant bastard!


    x wrote on December 07, 2007 08:34 PM: NO MORE NBA GAMES IN LAS VEGAS PLEASE! They bring a terrible crowd with them. Unfortunately, our Mayor does not seem to agree... in an interview on the Alan Stalk radio show a couple weeks ago, the Mayor said in reference to the infamous NBA weekend: "Anyone who had a ticket to the game had a great time". As if this is the answer... buy a ticket, and hope to avoid all the crime going on outside!!!


    vernon smuckers wrote on December 07, 2007 07:48 PM: What a joke, This piece of trash walks.


    Craig Seifert wrote on December 07, 2007 07:32 PM: I just read the Jones plea agreement and sentencing. This agreement clearly illustrates that there are two types of ju$t-u$ in Clark County. Those who are affluent and those who are not end up in the Nevada Prison system. This agreement to me, is a manifest injustice. Now, I have not read the prosecutions discovery so I don't know how strong there case was, but with all the investigation and length of time before charging Jones, to me, surely illustrates that they had a strong enough case to win a conviction.


    Shady wrote on December 07, 2007 03:09 PM: SCJ. If you don't like the way the LVMPD handles thier investigations why don't you apply and work your way to det? It seems to me it's more the justice system in clark county than the LVMPD. Our justice system has no backbone. everyone gets probation so why should they put in the extra time??


    Sandie wrote on December 07, 2007 02:28 PM: scj, what do you mean, "BUT IF that is the only way the shooter could be identified"???????? Snitch??? Someone was shot!!! A crime occured!!!! Wouldn't ANYONE be obliged to tell what they saw?????? Crazy! Also, NEWSFLASH....pacman IS involved!!!!
    Wow is this how you justify something so so wrong, with a bunch of "what-if's???
    You need to get the facts straight inside your head. And btw, Bonds will get off, Vick will get some kind of mercy.............2 letters....................O and J.
    Nuff said.


    Me wrote on December 07, 2007 01:41 PM: You can take the trash out of the ghetto, but trash is still trash no matter what his address might be......just ask OJ.
    Pacman has money....but he certainly doesn't have any class.


    scj wrote on December 07, 2007 01:16 PM: Wayne, Bonds has not beaten the rap. His trial didn't even start. Michael Vick is in Jail and faces potential state prison time to go along with the time he has already started serving. At least get your facts straight before littering the board. I agree the sentence on Pacman is light BUT IF that is the only way the shooter could be identified and the shooter ends up getting 20 years then Pacman's celebrity status will have proven to be an effective cause of the shooter being caught, even if Pacman didn't want to snitch. If pacman didn't have celebrity status, there wouldn't be so much pressure on him to identify the shooter and Pacman probably would never have snitched. In fact if Pacman wasn't involved and no shooter could be ID'd, no one would have probably been charged at all.

    BTW, all 4 attackers in the Treasures case were white, no race card, still no help from Metro for the victim.


    Zack wrote on December 07, 2007 12:49 PM: Wayne, I see a trend, it's called racisim, when blacks commit crimes, accroding, to jesse jackson and al sharpton, the two biggest racists out there. I'm tired of it, everything with them people is racisim, GROW UP!


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