More drama. Malik Beasley pleaded guilty to a felony count of threats of violence on Monday, December 21, amid his romance with Larsa Pippen and divorce from Montana Yao.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office in Minnesota announced the news in a press release, saying the NBA player, 24, faces 120 days in a workhouse, which is a prison where inmates are kept in employment. He entered his plea remotely before Hennepin County District Court Judge Hilary Caligiuri.
The felony will be reduced to a misdemeanor on Beasley’s record if he completes his three years of probation, according to the attorney’s office. He had also faced a felony fifth-degree drug possession charge, which prosecutors dropped as part of negotiations in the case.
The Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard told the judge on Monday that he has “learned [his] lesson” after his attorney pointed out that the charge against Beasley can be enhanced and would carry a higher penalty should he commit the same crime again or another violent act.
The athlete was charged after admitting that he pointed a rifle at a family in Minneapolis on September 26 because they stopped their car at the end of his driveway in the middle of a parade.
“I could have retreated,” Beasley told the judge at Monday’s hearing in addition to acknowledging that his behavior had been reckless. “I was not in my right mind. I’m ready to move on.”
A sentencing date has been scheduled for February 9, 2021. Yao, 23, was also charged in the case for fifth-degree drug possession. Her next court appearance is set for Tuesday, December 29.
Beasley came under fire earlier this month after photos surfaced of him holding hands with Pippen, 46, at a shopping mall in Miami on November 23. Yao, with whom he shares 20-month-old son Malik, later wrote on her Instagram Stories that she does not “even know this man” and subsequently filed for divorce. The model also alleged that she and the pair’s toddler were “told to leave our family home” amid the drama.
After news broke of Beasley and Yao’s separation, more photos of him and the former Real Housewives of Miami star continued to emerge. They got cozy on a yacht in Miami in November while celebrating his birthday and more recently posed together in front of a Christmas tree in Minnesota.
Us Weekly has reached out to Beasley’s attorney for comment.
