Ex-NFL running back pleads no contest

Published 3:54 am Thursday, July 25, 2013

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Former NFL running back Larry Johnson has pleaded no contest to charges that he choked an ex-girlfriend into unconsciousness and left her only in her underwear in a Las Vegas hotel hallway.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports the 33-year-old was adjudicated guilty Tuesday of domestic violence battery and assault, which are both misdemeanors. A felony charge was dropped as part of a plea deal.

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.

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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.