New York Knicks point guard Raymond Felton was arrested early Tuesday morning on three counts of criminal possession of a weapon, according to a New York Police Department spokesman.
Felton was charged with second- and third-degree criminal possession of a firearm, which are felonies, and fourth-degree possession of a firearm, which is a misdemeanor, after his estranged wife's lawyer dumped his gun off with cops, sources said.
The 29-year-old Felton is slated to appear in criminal court in Manhattan later Tuesday morning.
The struggling Knicks guard was cuffed when he turned himself in for questioning at the 20th precinct in Manhattan at about 12:50 a.m., just hours after the Knicks latest loss to the Dallas Mavericks at Madison Square Garden. The eight-year NBA veteran in his second stint with the Knicks, scored eight points and had seven assists in Monday night's loss.
Felton surrendered after a lawyer for his wife, Ariane Raymondo-Felton, brought a Belgian pistol — an FNH 5.7x28-mm. — that reportedly belonged to the NBA player, sources said.
His 26-year-old wife — a Cornell University grad who is now studying at Fordham University School of Law — filed for divorce from Felton after the couple married just 19 months ago and, according to a police source, was uncomfortable that the handgun was being kept in the home.
"She had knowledge that the gun was there," the source said. "She said she didn't want the gun there anymore."
Felton has played poorly this season, and the Knicks unsuccessfully tried to trade him prior to the Feb. 20 trade deadline.
Felton faces New York City's strict gun possession laws. In 2009, former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress was sentenced to two years in prison after accepting a plea deal on a firearm charge following an incident in which he suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound when his gun accidentally went off in a Manhattan nightclub.
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