The Pitt guard pled guilty to public intoxication and disorderly conduct, with his felony charge dropped
Pitt guard Ithiel Horton resolved his legal issues on Wednesday, as he pled guilty to lesser charges than those he initially faced and was sentenced to 80 hours of community service as part of a plea agreement.
Horton’s aggravated assault charge, a felony and his most serious charge, was dropped, and he pled guilty to two counts of disorderly conduct and one count of public intoxication. In addition to community service, Horton will have to take anger management classes and undergo drug and alcohol evaluations as part of the plea agreement that was negotiated.
“It took a long time to get here,” said Phil DiLucente, Horton’s attorney. “I was at one point frustrated because this man, who is on scholarship and is a leader in his community on the honor roll for this past semester, was not only able to take the court, but he had felony charges hanging over his head. As far as we are concerned, he is cleared today.”
The legal resolution serves as the conclusion to a saga that began in November, when Horton was allegedly involved in an incident in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood. On Nov. 6, police were called to an incident involving Horton and a tow truck driver. A police officer alleged that the situation then escalated, with Horton running from police, falling down and then striking the police officer.
After the resolution of his legal issues on Wednesday, Horton suggested that his next step would be getting back on the court and resuming his role with the Panthers.
“I’m just happy to get back to playing, get back with the team and hopefully help us win more games,” Horton said, according to Craig Meyer of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
With that said, the timeline for Horton’s return has yet to be established, but when the charges were briefly dropped before, Horton was reinstated and took the court for Pitt in a matchup with Louisville. Pitt also said that Horton would be able to return to the team once “the legal process has been completed to the satisfaction of the university.” And given Horton’s quick return last time around, it seems likely that he will be reinstated soon.