OMAHA, Neb. — Marcus Jordan, a son of Michael Jordan, was fined $250 and court costs Thursday after pleading no contest to disturbing the peace during an argument with a woman outside a Nebraska hotel last month.
Marcus Jordan, 21, also had been charged with obstructing a police officer, but that was dropped as part of a plea agreement.
He was in Omaha for the U.S. Olympic swim trials July 1 and arrested after police responded to an early-morning call at an Embassy Suites hotel. According to a police report, an off-duty officer working security for the hotel was trying to subdue Jordan as he argued with two women in the driveway. Jordan was "very animated, intoxicated and uncooperative."
Dressed in a sport coat, tie and black slacks, the son of the NBA great appeared in Douglas County Court with his Omaha attorney, Steve Lefler. He paid his fine after a three-minute hearing and left the courtroom without speaking to reporters. A courthouse worker stopped Jordan outside and had her picture taken with him.
Jordan is enrolled at Central Florida but no longer a member of the basketball team. He averaged 13.7 points for UCF last season.
City prosecutor Marty Conboy said a video of the incident showed Jordan in an animated argument with a friend of his girlfriend. The security officer tried to get between Jordan and the woman.
"You can see him going over his shoulder. They're still jawing. As they start pushing back, they go to the ground. It was very brief," Conboy said.
Jordan, according to Lefler, didn't know that the man who intervened was working security. Several hours after the 2:11 a.m. disturbance, Jordan went to police headquarters to apologize for his behavior.
"I can assure you, after 35 years of being a lawyer, it's the first time I've ever heard of anybody going to the police station to apologize," Lefler said. "He's just been a sweet kid to work with."
Lefler said Jordan could have entered a written plea and saved a trip to Omaha for the hearing.
"Honestly, because he's who he is, Marcus Jordan, we thought you guys (media) might go crazy if he wasn't here," Lefler said. "Truly, that was it. You guys would have thought that he's given special treatment when he wouldn't have been given special treatment."
The 6-foot-3 shooting guard's departure is a blow to the Knights. He also had 24 double-digit scoring performances and he had helped draw more fans to games. His older brother, Jeffrey Jordan, played 13 games as a senior at UCF last season after transferring from Illinois. He left the program in early January, citing personal reasons.
Photo via Facebook/Marcus Jordan