LAS VEGAS -- Suspended NFL player Adam "Pacman" Jones is expected to take a plea deal that will get him probation in return for testimony about a Las Vegas strip club triple shooting, his lawyer said Tuesday.
The Tennessee Titans cornerback intends to plead no contest to one charge of conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct, a gross misdemeanor, in return for a promise to suspend a sentence of one year in county jail, according to a written plea agreement obtained by The Associated Press.
Jones' attorney, Robert Langford, said he would appear on his client's behalf Tuesday to tell Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo that Jones intends to take a plea. The actual plea will take place at a later date before a Clark County District Court judge.
"He has agreed to testify in whatever hearings come up regarding the shooter," Langford said. Jones, who is not expected to appear at Tuesday's hearing, would not be sentenced until after testifying, he said.
Abbatangelo is expected to waive Jones' preliminary hearing on two felony coercion charges stemming from allegations he incited the melee inside the club. The evidentiary hearing was postponed Oct. 29 while plea negotiations continued.
In addition to one year of probation, Jones must attend an anger management program, complete 200 hours of community service within a year and submit to random drug testing, according to the plea deal. Langford said Jones already is subject to drug testing under NFL rules.
Langford would not say if Jones knew the identity of a gunman who authorities say opened fire and wounded three people Feb. 19 outside the Minxx Gentlemen's Club minutes after Jones and members of his entourage were involved in a melee inside.
"I can't comment because that's an ongoing police investigation," Langford told the AP.
Langford said, however, that Jones did not know the identity of a man whose photo was released in June by police. Investigators said they wanted to question that man in the shooting. The photo was obtained from surveillance cameras, and police said they thought the man lived on the East Coast.
Police have not charged anyone with the shooting, which left three people wounded, including a bar employee, Tommy Urbanski, who was paralyzed from the waist down.
The Titans had no comment when contacted Tuesday morning, and the NFL did not immediately respond to a message left by the AP.
Urbanski, co-worker Aaron Cudworth and club patron Natalie Jones have each filed civil lawsuits seeking damages from Jones.
Urbanski's lawsuit also seeks damages from the NFL, the Titans and the owners of Harlem Knights, a Houston strip club that hosted events at the Minxx club during the NBA's All-Star weekend, Feb. 17-19.
"I'm pleased to see he's accepting responsibility for his conduct on the date in question," said Richard Schonfeld, lawyer for Aaron Cudworth, a bar bouncer who was wounded in the shooting. "We're looking forward to proceeding expeditiously with the civil litigation."
The 24-year-old Jones has not played this NFL season, after he was suspended for violating league personal conduct rules. The NFL Players Association is appealing Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision not to reduce Jones' season-long suspension.
Arrested six times since the Titans drafted him in April 2005 from West Virginia, Jones also has another criminal case pending, a felony count of obstruction in Georgia from a February 2006 arrest.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.
