LAS VEGAS (AP) Former NFL running back Larry Johnson pleaded no contest Tuesday to charges that he choked an ex-girlfriend into unconsciousness and left her only in her underwear in a Las Vegas hotel hallway.
The 33-year-old was convicted of domestic violence battery and assault, which are both misdemeanors. A felony charge was dropped as part of a plea deal, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Johnson was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $345 fine. He must also perform 48 hours of community service and attend six months of counseling.
"I'm just happy to have this behind me and go back to Florida and stay out of trouble for once," Johnson said after the hearing, according to the newspaper.
Johnson was arrested Oct. 5 at a Bellagio hotel room. According to a police report, he and the woman had been drinking alcohol before the altercation, and the woman had marks on her face and bruises on her neck. Johnson had marks on his face that police attributed to the woman fighting him as he choked her.
The woman told officers she passed out and awoke in the 10th floor hallway and knocked on doors until someone called hotel security.
Johnson, who starred for the Kansas City Chiefs but most recently played for the Miami Dolphins in 2011, was arrested several times during his nine-year NFL career.
He was sentenced in March 2009 to two years of probation with a chance to have his record cleared for good behavior after pleading guilty to reduced disturbing the peace charges in separate cases involving two women at two Kansas City nightclubs.
In 2003, Johnson was charged with aggravated assault and misdemeanor battery after being accused of brandishing a gun during an argument with a former girlfriend. The charges were dropped after he completed a domestic violence diversion program.
Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com
