Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore has cleared up the legal matter that was hanging over his head. Lattimore, who was arrested in March and charged with possessing a loaded handgun that was believed to be stolen (a fourth-degree felony), recently pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of failing to promptly inform officers that he was carrying a concealed handgun, as Mike Triplett of ESPN.com writes. The felony count was dropped as part of the plea deal.
Triplett points out that Lattimore has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. The 25-year-old DB was a passenger in a car that was pulled over for multiple traffic violations, and he did not tell the officers that he had the gun until they asked. Lattimore’s attorney, Marcus Sidoti, said his client was unaware that the gun was stolen.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy says the matter is still being reviewed by the league office. But now that the criminal case has been resolved, one would think that a decision as to whether Lattimore will face any sort of punishment under the NFL’s personal conduct policy will come fairly quickly.
The Saints were clearly not too concerned about this incident, as they handed Lattimore a record-setting contract extension in September. Pro Football Focus has not been particularly high on the Ohio State product since his rookie campaign, and that trend has continued this year. PFF’s metrics give him a 63.6 overall grade, good for 54th out of 118 qualified players. Still, Lattimore is viewed in a different light by New Orleans brass, and as the club’s CB1, he is often matched up against an opponent’s top receiver.
He chipped a bone in his thumb in the Saints’ Week 1 win over the Packers, missed Week 2 as a result, and played a few games with a cast. On the season, the three-time Pro Bowler has 42 tackles, one interception, and 11 passes defensed.
Lattimore was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation and was required to pay a $1K fine.
