DENVER—Denver Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin was allowed to keep his driver’s license despite receiving two tickets for going over 100 mph on a city street and a freeway, prosecutors said.
“At a minimum … there’s an appearance that (Martin) did receive preferential treatment,” said Vince DiCroce, the top prosecutor at the Denver city attorney’s office.
DiCroce said the prosecutor who handled the cases, Russell Stone, was suspended for three days without pay.
Stone appealed the punishment but lost. Stone said he was not allowed to comment under city attorney’s office rules.
Nuggets spokesman Eric Sebastian said neither Martin nor the team would comment.
Martin’s plea deals, first reported in January by KMGH-TV, stemmed from tickets written in 2006 for going 101 mph in a 30 mph zone and 103 mph in a 55 mph zone.
In the first case, the initial plea agreement would have meant Martin’s license would be revoked, so his attorneys negotiated a new agreement, according to court documents and city officials.
In the second instance, Martin’s case was transferred to Stone after another prosecutor offered a plea deal that would have led to a license revocation, according to the documents and officials.
Daniel Recht, an attorney in the firm representing Martin, says defense attorneys did nothing wrong.
He told the Rocky Mountain News the firm defended Martin “ethically, competently and aggressively.”
