Michigan lineman Mazi Smith pleads guilty to lesser gun charges, sentencing date set

Michigan defensive stalwart Mazi Smith pleaded down a felony concealed weapons charge to a misdemeanor during a probably cause hearing at an Ann Arbor, Michigan, court on Thursday. Smith had been arrested in early October for driving with a gun without a concealed carry permit.

According to a report by Angelique Chengelis of The Detroit News, Smith accepted a deal from the Washtenaw County prosecutors office to drop the felony charge and plead guilty “to an added count of possession of a loaded firearm in or upon a motor vehicle.”

Smith will be sentenced under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, a Michigan law that allows people under a certain age to have certain criminal charges or offenses dismissed. He is 21 and the the law used to only apply to people between ages 18 and 20, but was recently amended to stretch until age 26.

A sentencing date has been set for Dec. 29 in Ann Arbor. Michigan is scheduled to play TCU in the College Football Playoff semifinals on Dec. 31 in Arizona.

The misdemeanor that Smith plead to is punishable by up to one year imprisonment and a $1000 fine, along with potentially having to forfeit possession of the gun in question.

Smith has not been suspended by Michigan Athletics or football head coach Jim Harbaugh, who said on Sunday that he had first learned of Smith’s arrest the day it happened.

The Detroit News also obtained the police report from the original arrest. According to the police report, Smith did not have his drivers license because he had forgotten his wallet and as officers approached his car after pulling him over for speeding, they saw him moving around. He later explained that he was moving the gun from the front seat to a rifle case in the back, which was open.

The report, according to the News, reads, in part: “As I opened the driver’s side door, I observed a loaded handgun magazine in the driver’s side door and a large bulge in Smith’s right pocket. I had Smith walk back to my patrol vehicle and I removed two loaded magazines from his right pants pocket.”

Smith had three loaded magazines for the gun, which was apparently not loaded at the time.

He tried to explain the situation to officers on scene, according to the report obtained by the News.

“’I was riding around with it because people are starting to know me more and I don’t feel comfortable,’” Smith said, per the report. “While seated in the rear of the patrol vehicle Smith asked me, ‘You think I am going to be in any trouble?’ Smith stated, ‘I was speeding.’ Smith stated, ‘I was trying to put it, I just literally got in my car, and I just took my CPL class.’”