Former NBA player Chapman agrees to probation, community service in theft case

Former University of Kentucky basketball star Rex Chapman pleaded guilty to four felony counts of theft on Friday and agreed to a sentence that will include probation and 750 hours of community service, the Maricopa County (Ariz.) Attorney’s Office confirmed Tuesday.

Chapman is scheduled to learn the length of his probation at a sentencing hearing Sept. 25 in Maricopa County Superior Court.

Police in Scottsdale, Ariz., arrested Chapman in September of last year on suspicion of organized retail theft and trafficking in stolen property. Chapman, 47, was alleged to have used the Apple Store’s self-checkout and then left without paying. He was believed to have stolen merchandise from the store on seven occasions and then sold the items for cash, The Associated Press reported at the time of his arrest.

Chapman subsequently entered a 28-day substance-abuse treatment program at The Brook Hospital in Louisville, Ky. He later spoke of a longtime addiction to pain medication linked to injuries sustained during a 12-year NBA career.

Jerry Cobb, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, said Chapman pleaded guilty to Class Six felonies, the lowest level of felony in Arizona.

Chapman agreed to pay back $15,128.30 to the Apple Store. At the hearing Friday, Chapman agreed to pay 50 percent of that total at the Sept. 25 sentencing hearing. Chapman must pay back the other 50 percent during the length of his probation, Cobb said.

Chapman also agreed to an additional restitution not to exceed $10,000 “for any additional losses the victim establishment may have incurred that we’re not aware of yet,” Cobb said.

The judge at the sentencing hearing will also have the option of reducing the Class Six felonies to misdemeanors, a “fairly common feature” when the crime is not judged serious or violent and the defendant does not have a criminal record, Cobb said.

Chapman was one of Kentucky’s most celebrated high school and UK basketball stars in the last 50 years. He was named 1986 Mr. Basketball. In two seasons for UK, he scored 1,073 points, which ranks 50th in program history.

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