Washington (CNN) -- Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas has been charged with a felony gun violation after admitting he drew guns in the team locker room in a highly publicized December 21 incident.
Arenas was charged with one count of carrying a pistol without a license, according to court documents filed Thursday.
There was no immediate comment from his attorney, Kenneth L. Wainstein. It wasn't immediately clear when Arenas, who has been indefinitely suspended from the NBA, would be arraigned on the charge. The document that describes the charge is called an "information," which is filed when a plea agreement has been reached.
Arenas described the incident as "a misguided effort to play a joke on a teammate" in a statement released earlier this month.
"Contrary to some press accounts, I never threatened or assaulted anyone with the guns and never pointed them at anyone. Joke or not, I now recognize that what I did was a mistake and was wrong."
Citing NBA sources, the New York Post reported in December that Arenas and Javaris Crittenton both brandished firearms in the team's locker room.
Crittenton's agent, Mark Bartelstein, said his client "hasn't done anything wrong. I'm extremely confident he'll be exonerated."
Asked if Crittenton brought a gun into the Verizon Center that day, Bartelstein said, "I'm not going to get into details." He said Crittenton has not met with authorities, nor has such a meeting been requested or scheduled.
Arenas, a three-time NBA All-Star, spent January 15 in a voluntary meeting with federal prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington and with District of Columbia metropolitan police, according to his attorney.
Arenas said he told authorities he stored four unloaded guns in his locker at the Verizon Center to keep them away from his children.
"I brought them without any ammunition into the District of Columbia, mistakenly believing that the recent change in the D.C. gun laws allowed a person to store unloaded guns in the District," he said.
He offered a public apology at the time to the league, his teammates and his fans, saying, "I promise to do better in the future."
Arenas was charged with one count of carrying a pistol without a license, according to court documents filed Thursday.
There was no immediate comment from his attorney, Kenneth L. Wainstein. It wasn't immediately clear when Arenas, who has been indefinitely suspended from the NBA, would be arraigned on the charge. The document that describes the charge is called an "information," which is filed when a plea agreement has been reached.
Arenas described the incident as "a misguided effort to play a joke on a teammate" in a statement released earlier this month.
"Contrary to some press accounts, I never threatened or assaulted anyone with the guns and never pointed them at anyone. Joke or not, I now recognize that what I did was a mistake and was wrong."
Citing NBA sources, the New York Post reported in December that Arenas and Javaris Crittenton both brandished firearms in the team's locker room.
Crittenton's agent, Mark Bartelstein, said his client "hasn't done anything wrong. I'm extremely confident he'll be exonerated."
Asked if Crittenton brought a gun into the Verizon Center that day, Bartelstein said, "I'm not going to get into details." He said Crittenton has not met with authorities, nor has such a meeting been requested or scheduled.
Arenas, a three-time NBA All-Star, spent January 15 in a voluntary meeting with federal prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington and with District of Columbia metropolitan police, according to his attorney.
Arenas said he told authorities he stored four unloaded guns in his locker at the Verizon Center to keep them away from his children.
"I brought them without any ammunition into the District of Columbia, mistakenly believing that the recent change in the D.C. gun laws allowed a person to store unloaded guns in the District," he said.
He offered a public apology at the time to the league, his teammates and his fans, saying, "I promise to do better in the future."
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