Reuters
Tuesday, January 23, 2007; 3:01 PM

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A judge on Tuesday gave Chicago Bears' defensive tackle Tank Johnson permission to travel to Miami to play in the February 4 Super Bowl, despite gun possession charges that violated terms of his probation.

Johnson, 25, needed Cook County Judge John Moran's permission to leave the state after police raided his suburban Chicago home December 14 and charged him with illegally possessing six guns and ammunition without a permit.

The arrest violated terms of Johnson's 18-month probation for a 2005 conviction for unlawful gun possession.

It was Johnson's third arrest in 18 months, beginning with the June 2005 arrest for having a loaded handgun in his truck outside a Chicago nightclub. He pleaded guilty in November 2005 to unlawful gun possession and was given probation.

In his second arrest, Johnson was charged with battery and resisting arrest in February for an altercation with a police officer. The charges were dropped when the officer declined to pursue the case.

Johnson has pleaded not guilty to charges arising from the December 14 raid.

The judge in the case has ordered the 300-pound (136-kg) lineman confined to his suburban Chicago home except for Bears' games and practices. Johnson is also forbidden to drive his own vehicle.

The day after Johnson's December 14 arrest on the gun charge, he and his childhood friend and bodyguard Willie Posey, who was charged with marijuana possession, went to a Chicago nightclub where Posey, 26, was shot and killed.

The Bears suspended Johnson for one game and he offered an apology, saying he would reward the club for giving him another chance. He put three pit bulls up for adoption that his neighbors had complained about.