JR Rider update

<TABLE cellPadding=8 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=articleTitle>Ex-NBA star pleads guilty</TD></TR><!--subtitle--><!--byline--><TR><TD class=articleByline>Nancy Isles Nation
Marin Independent Journal</TD></TR><!--date--><TR><TD class=articleDate>Article Launched:02/01/2007 12:27:19 AM PST</TD></TR><TR><TD height=10></TD></TR><TR><TD class=articleBody>Former NBA star Isaiah "J.R." Rider pleaded guilty to felony cocaine possession in a Marin court Wednesday, adding a more serious conviction to a string of misdemeanors.
Rider has entered guilty pleas on six misdemeanor counts in Marin Superior Court in a domestic violence case involving a woman he was dating in Marin City. He also has pleaded guilty to falsely identifying himself to a police officer and driving with a suspended license.
Rider has been in custody in Marin County Jail since early December after he was transferred from an Alameda County jail on three bench warrants issued by Marin judges.
According to his defense attorney, Garrick Lew, Rider is being held in lockdown for behavioral issues.
He is due to be sentenced Feb. 7 on all of the charges to which he has pleaded guilty.
Prosecutor Tom Brown said Rider could be assigned to a drug diversion program on the felony cocaine possession count. If he does not successfully complete it, he would be eligible for three years in state prison. He could be sentenced to as many as three years in county jail on the misdemeanor counts.
Lew, who has represented Rider for about 10 years, said his client has made errors in judgment and blamed his behavior on substance abuse.
"He's got friends - alleged friends - that are just not good to hang with," Lew said, adding that Rider has asked to be placed in the jail's C-Pod treatment unit but has been denied because he has been placed in lockdown for behavioral issues.
"He's a pretty free spirit and part of that has caused his problems," Lew said. "Organizational discipline caused a lot of his problems in the league and in his life."
Lew called Rider's recent arrests in Marin and Alameda counties "an unfortunate fall from grace." He said Rider is dealing with a lot of issues, and that his mother has been in a coma for more than a year.
"His mother was a very, very big part of his life," Lew said.
Rider, who played at Encinal High in Alameda, was drafted fifth overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1993 and was a first-team selection to the 1994 NBA all-rookie team. He played for five teams and retired in 2002. During his nine-year career, he earned more than $26 million.
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good to see he's doing productive things with his life and 26 million!:ughhh:

unreal, piece of shit, loser

you knew this would happen to him 15 years ago.

Surprised It Took So Long.

Remember when he was busted in a parked car in a prominate Portland niegborhod by police smoking refer out of a coke can?

You know the trick,you indent the can poke a whole in it light and suck.

sorry to hear this...

on the bright side ive been in marin county jail really not a bad place to have some time served count for him before they ship him to quentin

Retired? Did JR have teams wanting to sign him?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/basketball/nba/03/29/bc.bkn.riderarrested.ap/index.html

Former NBA player Isaiah Rider was jailed Saturday for investigation of auto theft, police said.

The 37-year-old Rider was driving a car that failed to stop at an intersection about 2:30 a.m. in the city's Skid Row district, Officer Norma Eisenman said.

Officers checking the license plates discovered the car had been reported stolen from South Los Angeles, and Rider was arrested, police said.

He remained in the Los Angeles County jail on $25,000 bail, according to information on the Web site for the county Sheriff's Department.

Rider played at UNLV before reaching the NBA in 1993. He played with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Portland Trail Blazers, Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets before ending his career in 2001.

Rider had a string of arrests both during and after his career for drug use, assault and other crimes. He also racked up large fines and suspensions during his playing days for offenses that ranged from being tardy to practice to spitting at fans.

In January, Berkeley police answering a report of a confrontation between a taxi driver and a passenger arrested Rider on Oakland warrants alleging unlawful firearm possession and grand theft.

Last year, he pleaded guilty in Marin County to several charges, including felony cocaine possession, battery and evading a police officer.

Prior to sentencing, he told the court his life had spun out of control.

I'd love to hear the reasoning someone would give for being found driving a stolen car after they had made $26 million over 9 years.

"EZ Rider with the jam" Kevin Harlan.

For all you T-Wolves fans.