Baxter Sentenced to Jail in Gun Incident

Baxter had apparently just left the Eye Bar on I Street NW with a friend, Francis I. Martin, when Baxter decided to fire off a couple of rounds from a gun he bought in Texas. Uniformed Secret Service officers on patrol near the White House heard the shots.

A passerby told the officers that shots had been fired from a white SUV near 18th and I streets NW. When police stopped the Range Rover, near 17th and K streets, they learned that it was registered to Baxter, who was driving. The officers said they saw two spent shell casings on the back floorboard. Baxter and Martin, 35, were ordered out of the car, and police found Baxter's gun.

Martin was originally charged, too, but those charges were dropped yesterday after Baxter made it clear he alone was responsible for the gun and for firing it.

With a sentence that will keep him in jail until the middle of October, after his team has begun its season, Baxter's professional fate is uncertain, said another of his attorneys, Harold Martin.

Entering yesterday's hearing, Baxter seemed to have a good chance at going home to Rockville and then to Italy.

In exchange for his guilty pleas, the U.S. attorney's office had agreed not to seek jail time beyond the seven days that Baxter already served and to dismiss the most serious charge if he stays out of trouble for the next year.

Baxter's attorneys asked the court to accept the recommendation of the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandi K. Garcia, and allow Baxter to move on. Baxter was eager, excited and overwhelmed at the prospect of going to Italy, to an unfamiliar place and a team that he was expected to lead, and all those feeling somehow bubbled into something inexcusable, Finci told Iscoe.

"There's no explanation for this," Finci said. "There was obviously no intent to harm any person. It's really just an effect of emotions being out of control."

Defense attorneys presented a letter from the general manager of Baxter's Italian team, Montepaschi Siena, who offered to provide the court with regular reports on Baxter's performance on and off the basketball court.

Finally, the judge heard from Baxter, who majored in criminal justice and criminology at Maryland and who is hoping to receive a bachelor's degree next year.

Baxter has been a local favorite since his basketball-playing days at three area high schools -- Silver Spring's Springbrook, Rockville's Richard Montgomery and Southeast Washington's Anacostia. He spent a postgraduate year at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., to focus on academics before heading to College Park.

At Maryland, Baxter became one of the country's best big men, known for his quiet demeanor and consistent play. He averaged at least 15 points per game during his final three seasons.