Mixed martial arts fighter Jon Jones managed to avoid jail time when a judge gave him a conditional discharge. Jones has plead guilty to a felony charge when he left a scene of an accident which involved an injury.
Judge Charles Brown of the Second Judicial District Court has released a statement about Jones’ case. Here’s what he had to say:
“Mr. Jones, you got real lucky, and in a number of ways, I think you need to talk to young people because making one stupid decision changes your entire future.”
Jones received a supervised probation of up to one year and six months and he needs to make a total of 72 speaking appearances. The terms of Jones’ sentence states that the fighter will be able to avoid a felony conviction if he will finish the probation and will be able to complete the speaking gigs without fail. It also says that the probation can end earlier than 18 months, depending on the decision of the court.
“This has been a huge wake-up call for him. Ever since he walked away from that car, he’s done everything to make amends,” Vincent Ward said. Ward is the lawyer of Jones in the ongoing case.
Jones also managed to avoid getting fines and other restrictions usually given to parolees like going out of the state and carrying a firearm.
Jones also released a statement regarding what took place. Here’s what he had to say:
“I am here to accept full responsibility for what happened, and I hope you can give me an opportunity to redeem myself.”
The MMA fighter released this statement during the hearing, where UFC President Dana White was also present.
What happened was Jones allegedly beat a red light while driving a Buick SUV. He was in a residential area in Albuquerque when he accidentally struck a car driven by a woman who was pregnant. According to those who saw what happened, Jones hurriedly left the scene and went back to his car to get a large handful of money before leaving again. A cop, who is off-duty, was the one who identified Jones when he left the scene.
When the police inspected the car, they found some MMA memorabilia and papers that are connecting Jones to the car. The police found some marijuana, marijuana paraphernalia, condoms, and food.
The police then went to look for Jones and asked him to come in for questioning. Jones was then issued a warrant when the police found out that the pregnant woman had a broken because of what happened. It didn’t take more than 24 hours before Jones surrendered himself in to the police. But he was later on released on bail worth $2500.
As for the UFC, Jones was stripped off his title belt and him suspended indefinitely. Jones has a record of 21-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC and is currently ranked No. 1 in the NOS Energy Drink MMA light-heavyweight and pound-for-pound rankings.
As of today, the Ward has confirmed that the pregnant driver had recovered well from her injuries.