Former Georgia Tech basketball standout and NBA first-round draft pick Javaris Crittenton is back in jail.
Crittenton, who is supposed to be on a 12-hour curfew while on bond awaiting a murder trial, was arrested Wednesday morning in a drug sting that took down more than a dozen people, authorities said.
He has been linked to an extensive narcotics trafficking operation based in Atlanta and faces felony drug possession charges, prosecutors said.
“Crittenton and the other suspects are accused of selling multi-kilo quantities of cocaine and several hundred pounds of marijuana during the seven month investigation dating back to June 2012,” said Yvette Jones, spokeswoman for Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard Jr.
He is now being held in the Fulton County Jail.
Reached by phone Wednesday morning, Crittenton’s attorney Brian Steel said his client was innocent.
“Mr. Crittenton and I are going to hold hands and we’re going to fight any and every false allegation against him,” Steel told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Crittenton was charged with two counts of conspiracy to violate the Georgia Controlled Substance Act, according to court records.
He was indicted with 13 other people on Friday, and Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shawn LaGrua on the same day sealed the indictment and all related information detailing the charges, according to court records obtained by The AJC.
The drug sweep was conducted by a regional narcotics task force comprised of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, Jones said.
The former Los Angeles Laker was accused of shooting and killing 22-year-old Atlanta mother of four Julian Jones on the night of Aug. 19, 2011.
Prosecutors said Crittenton was armed with a high-powered rifle and killed Jones while aiming for a man he believed had robbed him.
Police said he had joined an L.A. gang shortly after entering the NBA, and on the night of Jones’ killing, was trying to get retribution against a rival gang member.
He was arrested and eventually released on a $230,000 bond in September 2011.
LaGrua in October imposed a curfew on Crittenton, ordering him to remain at his Fayette County home from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. each day, after allegations that he attempted to intimidate the Fulton County assistant district attorney prosecuting his pending murder trial.
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