Chumlee, better known as Austin Lee Russell from the TV show Pawn Stars, appeared in court at the end of May 2016 in Las Vegas and told the judge that he was interested in a plea deal. This was a case stemming from the discovery of marijuana, guns and other illicit drugs at the TV star’s Las Vegas home. The plea would let him avoid incarceration.
Known as Chumlee to TV viewers, Austin said he would plead guilty to both the felony weapons charge and a misdemeanor attempted drug possession count. This plea deal will put him on 3 years’ probation with counseling.
The judge warned Chumlee that he would need to stay out of all legal troubles until 2019 before the felony charge against him will be dismissed. If all goes well, Russell will only be left with a misdemeanor conviction on his record. If between now and 2019, he gets into legal problems he could face anywhere from 3-5 years in state prison on the felony weapons possession charge.
After the plea deal, Russell and his lawyers, Richard Schonfeld and David Chesnoff will have to return on June 10, 2016 to enter Russell’s plea in Clark County District Court. David Chesnoff stated that both the police and his people did a thorough investigation that resulted in a plea deal.
So far, officials with the History Channel and A & E Network said that “Chumlee’s” show, Pawn Stars is not in active production, and there has been no change in Russell’s status on the show.
It is believed that guns, marijuana, Xanax, an antidepressant and a small amount of methamphetamine was found at his home when the police searched his home back in March on grounds of a sex assault investigation. However, further investigations revealed that no sex crime had been committed and Russell was never charged in that case.
The type of probation and counseling Russell will need to undertake has not been specified. John Pacult, a Las Vegas licensed social worker who will see to the counseling has not given any comments to the media. However, based on his Internet website it appears that John has previously counseled sex offenders.
As a result of the plea deal, Russell has had to surrender all his guns and drugs. Why he had 12 guns was not fully mentioned in court.
