Roy Tarpley jailed for violating probation

[Evilmav2]

The following was taken from the associated press. It looks like Tarpley still can't stay out of trouble. The last I had heard from him, he was playing in China...

Roy Tarpley jailed for violating probation
Associated Press

DENTON, Texas - Former Dallas Mavericks star Roy Tarpley was jailed for violating his probation by playing overseas.

Denton County District Attorney Lee Ann Breading said the 38-year-old Tarpley turned himself in to sheriff's deputies Wednesday. Tarpley remained in jail Thursday, Breading said.

Tarpley was fined and sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty to assault in 1998 for dragging his girlfriend from a taxi and throwing her to the ground.

Under his probation, Tarpley was not allowed to leave the state. He had asked for permission to travel to Europe to continue his professional career after the NBA banned him for substance abuse, but probation officers rejected the request, according to his attorney, Jay Ethington of Dallas.

He went anyway, playing in Greece, China, Russia and several other countries, Ethington said. Escalating international tensions from the U.S. war on terror and a possible war on Iraq prompted him to return to the United States and face justice, the attorney said.

Tarpley could be sentenced to up to a year in jail, but Breading said Tarpley probably would not get the maximum sentence.

Tarpley was the seventh pick in the 1986 NBA draft out of Michigan. He played for the Mavericks from 1986 until he was banned from the NBA in October 1991 for using cocaine.

For two years, he played professional basketball in Greece until he was reinstated by the NBA in 1994 and signed a six-year, $20 million contract with the Mavericks. But he was permanently banned from the league in December 1995 for using alcohol and violating the terms of a court-imposed personal aftercare program.