In December 2008, ex-NBA big man Corie Blount was arrested for possessing all of this:


Corie insisted it was for personal use; specifically, for his 40th birthday party the following month. He insisted that he was not a dealer, that he was not destitute and in need of an income; instead, he tried to convince the prosecutors and the world at large that he merely listened to the bad judgement of friends, and got caught out.

Problem was, that's still a hell of a lot of weed. 29 pounds to be exact. And so while trafficking charges were dropped in a plea agreement that saw Corie plead guilty to two counts of possession, the judge was still not convinced. He sentenced Corie to a year in prison, five years probation, 250 hours community service, and ordered him to forfeit some cash and some cars. Corie had taken the plea agreement in the hope of avoiding prison, but it didn't work out that way. And it didn't help that the sentencing judge decided to have his own personal Youtube moment.

Corie was sentenced to a year in jail on May 13th 2009. And despite multiple requests for early release (citing Corie's attendance of NA classes in prison, his concurrent completion of a CBT course, his submission to regular drug screening, his his conviction-free record before this, and the non-violent nature of his crimes as reasons why), those motions were all denied. Blount ended up serving his full sentence, and was released as planned last month. Now that he's out, Corie is repentant and still insistent that he's not a dealer, but also worried about a future that he can't see.

Still, at least he's out. Another ex-Bulls forward isn't. Arizona graduate Tommy Smith was arrested on multiple charges in January 2009 after allegedly punching his girlfriend when leaving a party, breaking her nose, driving her away against her will, taking her phone off her and abandoning her at the roadside by a lake. He later came back for her and took her to hospital, but she pressed charges anyway. In December, he pleaded guilty to the charge of aggravated assault and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, credited with 173 days of time already served. Assuming he too is denied an early release, Smith will remain in prison for another 18 months. He will be 31 by the time he gets out.

Additionally, former Jazz draft pick and Nevada graduate Kirk Snyder has finally been convicted and sentenced for his savage beating of a neighbour over a year ago. Snyder's temporary insantiy defense did not work, and he was sentenced to three years in prison for a charge of aggravated burglary, two years for felonious assault and six months for common assault, to be served concurrently and credited with 312 days of time already served. Given that before his sentencing, Snyder had been placed on suicide watch, beaten another inmate, refused food and medication and had to be force-fed, an early release for good behaviour looks a long way off.

But here's to his very best efforts.