Conor McGregor Accepts Plea Deal After Bus Attack
Former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor was back in court on Thursday, July 26, 2018 in the latest saga in the criminal case against him stemming from an attack on fighters that were trapped in a bus.
Just over the weekend, there were plea rumors that surfaced going into this court hearing that by accepting this deal would prevent him from serving jail time as well as allow him to travel to and from the United States from Ireland as it was originally believed that McGregor was facing the possibility of up to seven years in prison and permanent deportation from the country.
Those rumors turned out to be true as both sides – prosecution and defense – made it official in New York City in front of a judge and media members in attendance. So the reality of the situation is with McGregor accepting this deal, prosecutors have agreed to drop the felony charges in lieu of successfully completing plea agreement.
At the hearing, it was revealed that all felony counts were dismissed as he accepted the deal that is a guilty of disorderly conduct charge, which will see him do five days of community service, anger management classes and three orders of protection against Ray Borg, Jason Ledvetter, and Michael Chiesa. With this protection order, he is not allowed to go near them until 2020.
He will also have to pay restitution for the damage to the bus. He also declined to comment on the matter to the media. It should be noted that Cian Cowley, who was also part of the attack and arrested, as a result, has been ordered to do 3 days of community service and anger management program.
Back in April during fight week of the UFC 223 pay-per-view event, McGregor and several members of his entourage decided to fly from Ireland to Brooklyn, New York to get revenge on current lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. It all started once the UFC lightweight champion got into an argument with McGregor’s training partner, Artem Lobov, earlier that week. This led to McGregor attacking the fighter bus that had Nurmagomedov on and he was arrested as a result, then was charged with three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief.
McGregor has not been seen in the Octagon since at UFC 205 when he won the lightweight title from Eddie Alvarez then fought in a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather and since then, McGregor’s status as an active MMA fighter was put on hold once again due this arrest but now with this legal ordeal behind him, he can get on with his fighting career.
The Brooklyn DA office issued the following statement on the situation:
“This is a fair resolution that holds the defendant accountable, ensures restitution for the victims and requires the defendant to perform community service where he can reflect on his conduct and give back to society.”
Here’s video of Conor McGregor arriving to the King County Supreme Criminal Courthouse moments ago pic.twitter.com/ND7T2dS6J3
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 26, 2018
