Sebastian Telfair was supposed to have a long career in basketball. Unfortunately, today’s events were a sad ending to that short, unfulfilled road.
In a Manhattan courtroom, the former NBA point guard was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for gun possession. When the verdict was read, Telfair broke down.
“Please don’t take me from society right now,’’ begged the former Lincoln HS star. “I am 34. I can go play in China for six years and take care of my family. I’m waiting for my daughter right now to get her period. Real mental illness because I wasn’t around … She hasn’t even gotten her period yet.”
Two years ago, Telfair was approached by police officers in Brooklyn for being parked illegally. The cops claimed to smell weed, so they pulled him and a friend out of the truck and searched it, finding three loaded guns and a ballistic vest and he was subsequently arrested and charged with possession of loaded weapons.
In April of this year, he was found guilty of those charges, and faced up to 15 years in prison. Today he learned he would be spending the next three and a half years in jail for that arrest.
“Sebastian Telfair is going to jail for a … victimless crime.” cried the emotional Telfair in the courtroom as the sentence was read.
It ends a sad chapter in the once promising life of another Brooklyn basketball star, one that started and ended in BK.
