Miles Bridges pleads no contest to felony domestic violence, gets three years probation

Charlotte Hornets free agent forward Miles Bridges pleaded no contest today to his pending felony domestic violence charge, closing the book on his legal situation for the time being.

The no contest plea effectively accepts the punishment of a guilty plea without formally admitting guilt. The plea was part of a deal that was reportedly agreed to by the victim. The deal dismisses the child abuse charges and results in three years probation for Bridges. The conditions for the probation are lengthy, according to ESPN:

During his three-year probation, Bridges, 24, will be required to complete 52 weeks of domestic violence counseling and 52 weeks of parenting classes, serve 100 hours of community service and undergo weekly narcotics testing with marijuana allowed only if there is a valid doctor’s prescription. He cannot own any guns or ammunition or any dangerous weapons. He also will have to pay a restitution fine of $300 and a domestic violence fine of $500, and obey the terms of a 10-year protective order, staying 100 yards away from and having no contact with the woman. Bridges and the woman maintain custody over their two children, and any visitation or exchange of children must be done peacefully and through a neutral third party.

Assuming Bridges can obey the conditions of his probation, this effectively ends the legal situation. Now it is up to Mitch Kupchak and Hornets ownership to make a decision on what to do with Bridges, who remains under team control as a restricted free agent. Previously, Kupchak had said the team would take a deep breath and huddle up on how to proceed once the legal situation was sorted out, and we’ve reached that point.

Bridges is still subject to league punishment if he signs with the Hornets or any other team, so we still have a ways to go before this situation is fully worked out.

Update: The Hornets released a statement about the developments