Cavs’ West To Face Additional Charges

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under NBA Off The Court Issues, SDC COMMENTARY

It seems these days that Cleveland Cavaliers guard Delonte West – as troubled as he is – cannot catch a break. It is common knowledge that he suffers from a bipolar disorder, which has played at least a small part in the current troubles he is involved in.

If recent events indicate anything, according to Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, then West is in hotter water as it was announced by Prince George’s County (MD) State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey that West has been indicted by a grand jury on a wide array of weapons counts – even more than the original two-gun possession charges that police applied when he was arrested following a traffic stop on September 17 just outside Washington, D.C.

West was indicted on two counts of carrying a dangerous weapon, two counts of carrying a handgun, two counts of transporting a handgun and one count each of reckless driving and negligent driving. Should West be convicted, he faces up to 3 years for each of the six gun charges and a $2,500 fine for each offense.

Ivey also stated that West will be arraigned by the end of the week and the case could go to trial by early next year; the list of weapons and other items are substantial. Here’s what West had on him at the time of his arrest:

A fully-loaded Ruger .357 Magnum
A fully-loaded Beretta 9 mm handgun
A Remington 870 shotgun
Eight shotgun shells
112 shotgun shells
An 8.5 inch Bowie knife

Folks, that is a lot of firearms and ammunition to be carrying on your person at one time. For the life of me, I can’t think of a good reason why West would carry so much at one time; I would like to believe that all of the firearms were registered legally wherever he purchased them.

But nonetheless, that cannot possibly bode well for West as he is facing a court date early in 2010. As tenuous as his situation with the Cavaliers already was got even more so with the additional legal hot water he got himself into. And he has no one to blame but himself. The team has a hard decision to make in regards to West’s future with the team.

Are West’s well-documented mental issues and the recently revealed legal troubles worth keeping him over? I can only speak for myself when I say that perhaps Cleveland simply needs to let him go, for better or for worse. The team does not need this major distraction hanging over their head as they seek to visit the NBA Finals this season.

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