LAS VEGAS -- A lawyer for suspended NFL player Pacman Jones said Friday that he is sending a check to the district attorney to repay a $20,000 debt to a Las Vegas casino.
Court documents show Clark County District Attorney David Roger requested a felony arrest warrant for Jones, 24, unless the debt was repaid.
The case was first reported by the Las Vegas Sun.
Rogers' request for the warrant -- which included a criminal complaint charging Jones with fraud and theft -- alleged Jones wrote two bad checks for $5,000 and one for $10,000, last Sept. 3 at Caesars Palace.
The bill now totals $24,675; the extra amount is for the district attorney's processing fees and penalties.
Jones' lawyer, Manny Arora, acknowledged his client owed the money. Arora said he was sending a check Friday for the entire amount.
The request for the arrest warrant was made to Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure on Thursday, but Bonaventure had not signed the warrant as of late Thursday, according to the Sun.
Executives with Harrah's Entertainment, which owns Caesars Palace, asked the bad-check unit of the district attorney's office to open a criminal case against Jones on Feb. 12, according to the Sun. Unpaid casino markers are treated as bad checks in Nevada.
Arora told ESPN's Ed Werder that the NFL office has been made aware of the facts in the dispute and does not believe the episode should impede their efforts to convince NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to let Jones take part in the Dallas Cowboys' offseason training program, or reinstate him for the 2008 season.
"We've informed the league and it is my sincere hope that it has no impact on the reinstatement process,'' Arora told Werder.
Of the situation, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said, "We are aware of it, and we are looking into it."
Jones has agreed to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in a case against a man charged with a February 2007 shooting that left a strip-club bouncer paralyzed. He pleaded no contest in district court on Dec. 6 to a gross misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge stemming from the incident. His sentencing has been put off until he testifies in the shooting case.
"Even though Mr. Jones is a witness for the state, he is not above the law," district attorney David Roger said Thursday, according to the Sun. "He will be treated like any other person who violates Nevada's bad check laws."
But Arora called the gambling debt "a nonissue."
"We've been in constant communication with the district attorney's office about giving us some time to pay back the debt," Arora told Werder. "The only delay was we tried to liquidate assets on behalf of Adam to raise the money since he wasn't receiving a salary and it took longer than expected. The debt will be paid within the next few days.''
Harrah's spokesman Gary Thompson declined to comment Thursday, according to the Sun.
Earlier this week, the DA's office said it was prepared to charge former NBA star Charles Barkley if he did not pay back $400,000 he owed to another Las Vegas casino. Barkley has paid the casino back, and no charge was filed.
But Roger said it was premature to say whether his office would drop the criminal case against Jones if he repaid his debt, according to the report.
"We've given him a lot of latitude to make restitution, and he has failed to do so," Roger said, according to the Sun. "And he has another case pending in the criminal justice system."
Information from The Associated Press and ESPN reporter Ed Werder was used in this report.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3409417
Court documents show Clark County District Attorney David Roger requested a felony arrest warrant for Jones, 24, unless the debt was repaid.
The case was first reported by the Las Vegas Sun.
Rogers' request for the warrant -- which included a criminal complaint charging Jones with fraud and theft -- alleged Jones wrote two bad checks for $5,000 and one for $10,000, last Sept. 3 at Caesars Palace.
The bill now totals $24,675; the extra amount is for the district attorney's processing fees and penalties.
Jones' lawyer, Manny Arora, acknowledged his client owed the money. Arora said he was sending a check Friday for the entire amount.
The request for the arrest warrant was made to Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure on Thursday, but Bonaventure had not signed the warrant as of late Thursday, according to the Sun.
Executives with Harrah's Entertainment, which owns Caesars Palace, asked the bad-check unit of the district attorney's office to open a criminal case against Jones on Feb. 12, according to the Sun. Unpaid casino markers are treated as bad checks in Nevada.
Arora told ESPN's Ed Werder that the NFL office has been made aware of the facts in the dispute and does not believe the episode should impede their efforts to convince NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to let Jones take part in the Dallas Cowboys' offseason training program, or reinstate him for the 2008 season.
"We've informed the league and it is my sincere hope that it has no impact on the reinstatement process,'' Arora told Werder.
Of the situation, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said, "We are aware of it, and we are looking into it."
Jones has agreed to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in a case against a man charged with a February 2007 shooting that left a strip-club bouncer paralyzed. He pleaded no contest in district court on Dec. 6 to a gross misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge stemming from the incident. His sentencing has been put off until he testifies in the shooting case.
"Even though Mr. Jones is a witness for the state, he is not above the law," district attorney David Roger said Thursday, according to the Sun. "He will be treated like any other person who violates Nevada's bad check laws."
But Arora called the gambling debt "a nonissue."
"We've been in constant communication with the district attorney's office about giving us some time to pay back the debt," Arora told Werder. "The only delay was we tried to liquidate assets on behalf of Adam to raise the money since he wasn't receiving a salary and it took longer than expected. The debt will be paid within the next few days.''
Harrah's spokesman Gary Thompson declined to comment Thursday, according to the Sun.
Earlier this week, the DA's office said it was prepared to charge former NBA star Charles Barkley if he did not pay back $400,000 he owed to another Las Vegas casino. Barkley has paid the casino back, and no charge was filed.
But Roger said it was premature to say whether his office would drop the criminal case against Jones if he repaid his debt, according to the report.
"We've given him a lot of latitude to make restitution, and he has failed to do so," Roger said, according to the Sun. "And he has another case pending in the criminal justice system."
Information from The Associated Press and ESPN reporter Ed Werder was used in this report.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3409417
