Miles Bridges pleads no contest to felony domestic violence

Bridges, a restricted free agent for the Charlotte Hornets, pleaded no contest to a felony domestic violence charge in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday and will be on three years of supervised release.

Bridges accepted the punishment and the conviction without admitting guilt in the case. Bridges was accused of hitting his girlfriend in front of their kids. Bridges pleaded not guilty to all three felony charges filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney.

A prosecutor said the woman agreed to and approved of the agreement that Bridges would plead no contest to one count of domestic violence toward a spouse or other cohabitant. The domestic violence victim allegation was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

There were two counts of child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death and one count of injuring a child's parent. According to the July release, the children were present for the alleged assault, but did not say what the child abuse counts were.

Bridges will have to complete 52 weeks of domestic violence counseling and 52 weeks of parenting classes, serve 100 hours of community service, and take weekly narcotics testing if there is a valid doctor's prescription during his three-year supervised release. He can't own firearms or dangerous weapons. He will have to stay away from the woman for 10 years and pay a fine of $500 for domestic violence. Bridges and the woman have custody of their two children and any exchange of children must be done through a neutral third party.

The attorney for Bridges didn't say anything. The office of the district attorney didn't reply to the request for comment.

The NBA has the right to suspend, fine, or disqualify Bridges from any further association with the league if he were to sign with a team.

Bridges was released on a $130,000 bond after he was arrested by Los Angeles police. Both the NBA and the Hornets said they were aware of the charges and that the league was investigating them.

The Hornets had an opportunity to match any offer sheet Bridges signs with another team after he was arrested. He played in the NBA for four years.

Bobby Marks was a contributor.