Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas could be released from a Montgomery County halfway house on Friday, two days before the official end of his 30-day sentence for bringing guns into Verizon Center.
Arenas, who started his sentence in the county jail on April 9, is scheduled to complete his sentence on May 9, but because that is a Sunday, the Federal Bureau of Prisons can release him before the weekend.
The 28-year-old point guard was suspended for the season by the NBA and pleaded guilty to a felony gun charge in January before being sentenced March 26. He still has to complete 400 hours of community service that cannot be completed at basketball clinics. He also was fined $5,000 and remains on probation for two years.
When Arenas rejoins society, he will find that he will soon answer to a new Wizards owner, Ted Leonsis, who signed a purchase agreement last weekend that will complete his takeover of the team and Verizon Center.
“He’s always been a very, very sweet kid,” Leonsis told Comcast SportsNet when asked about Arenas last week. “I like him. And I believe in the best in people. And so I don’t think I’ll say much. I want to get to know him, but you need to do it in a way that’s respectful of the hierarchy.”
The Wizards will participate in the NBA Draft Lottery on May 18. One of the team’s biggest tasks this offseason is to sign a point guard to back up Arenas.
Arenas also became the target of a lawsuit filed last week which claims he owes a Beverly Hills company more than $70,000 for storing guns he bought and never picked up.
