Ex-MSU star Keith Appling to spend a year in jail

Former Michigan State University basketball star Keith Appling accepted a plea deal today requiring him to spend a year in jail in connection with an incident last August involving a gun.

It was the third case in which he faced charges over  a four-month period last year.

Appling, 25, pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon and resisting and obstructing a police officer. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 3, officials said.  Two other charges in the case — third-degree fleeing a police officer and felony firearm —were dismissed.

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Prosecutors also dismissed the other two cases against Appling as part of the plea agreement, officials said.  

A sentence agreement in the case requires Appling to spend five years on probation and the first year in the Wayne County Jail with no early release, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said in an email today.

Appling's attorney could not be reached for comment today.

Detroit police stopped Appling on a traffic violation Aug. 28 in the area of 7 Mile and Russell, officials previously said. A police officer reached in the car to get his identification and Appling was accused of driving off while the officer's hand was still in the window.

Authorities said Appling threw a Gucci bag from his car and police found the bag near the area of the initial stop. It had Appling's name on it and a handgun inside, officials have said.

The incident followed two others, both involving guns.

Appling was arrested outside a strip club in Dearborn in May 2016. At the time, authorities said they found a handgun under the driver's seat of the car Appling was in, a loaded weapon in the trunk and a small amount of suspected marijuana inside the car.

In June 2016, Detroit police arrested Appling, and he was also accused of having a gun in that case.

Appling was a point guard at MSU in 2010-14 and is a former star at Detroit Pershing High School.

Contact Elisha Anderson: eanderson@freepress.com or 313-222-5144