LAS CRUCES, N.M. (KTSM) – Former New Mexico State basketball player Deshawndre Washington was indicted on 13 felony charges earlier this month pertaining to sexual assault and hazing accusations made by former teammates. KTSM has now learned that this isn’t Washington’s first brush with the law.
According to Chicago Police Department records, Washington was arrested on Feb. 29, 2020, and charged with possession of a stolen firearm, as well as for possessing a loaded firearm without a permit. Washington was a passenger in a vehicle and was also cited for not wearing a seatbelt.
KOAT in Albuquerque reported on Friday night that in April of 2021, Washington pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree felony firearms charge related to that 2020 arrest. Washington was sentenced to 12 months probation and also served 30 hours of community service, according to KOAT’s report.
Much of the duration of his probation would have taken place during the 2021-22 college basketball season, when Washington played at Northwest Florida State College under Greg Heiar, winning the junior college national championship. Heiar then got the head coaching job at New Mexico State and Washington followed him to Las Cruces.
A lawsuit filed on Nov. 6 in New Mexico names Washington as a defendant and alleges that he was seen with guns in the NMSU locker room and on team buses. It is illegal to possess firearms on college campuses in the Land of Enchantment.
“One of the players who was known and seen with a handgun was Deshawndre Washington. He has told some players about his history of gun use and gun possession, including some legal problems involving guns,” the lawsuit alleges. “Rumors circulated about his history of gun use. His gun and the rumors about his prior gun use increased his power over his fellow students and the threat he posed.”
Washington and two former NMSU teammates Kim Aiken Jr. and Doctor Bradley were all charged with multiple felony crimes on Nov. 8 after a New Mexico Attorney General investigation into allegations of sexual assault, harassment and hazing by multiple former teammates of the trio.
Aiken Jr., Bradley and Washington are scheduled to be arraigned in Dona Ana County on Nov. 22.
Read: Read More