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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones appeared in court on Tuesday morning in Binghamton, New York, for sentencing stemming from a guilty plea to DWI.
According to Binghamton's PressConnects.com, Jones received a fine of $1,000, and will have to install ignition interlock devices in all of his vehicles. Additionally, Jones will have his license suspended for six months, and he'll need to complete a victim impact panel within 90 days.
Jones was arrested on the morning of May 19 after crashing his Bentley into a utility pole. He was taken into custody on suspicion of DWI, though he did not submit to breathalyzer or blood testing from the police. He later plead guilty to the misdemeanor DWI charge, with this sentencing being a part of that plea deal.
On top of the fine and the ignition interlock devices - which essentially act as a breathalyzer in the vehicle, disabling it from starting if a driver blows a certain level - Jones will also have to pay $6,563.62 in restitution to the utility company regarding the pole he crashed into.
The 25-year-old Champion commented on Twitter following today's proceedings, writing "Blessed to still have the full support of Broom County, my fans, and my DWI case officially behind me. Moving forward."
Jones returns to the Octagon on September 1, defending his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship for a fourth time in a bout against Dan Henderson at UFC 151.
Penick's Analysis: With the case officially behind him, Jones now can work on moving forward, learning from this major mistake, and so long as it never happens again it's not an issue. The entire saga was unfortunate, and certainly disappointing, but it's not something he's incapable of coming back from, and his fans just now have to hope the summer's proceedings haven't been a distraction as he prepares to step back into the cage on September 1 in Las Vegas.
[Jon Jones art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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