NFL's Joey Porter Freed After Paying $70k Casino Debt

Former NFL linebacker Joey Porter nearly ended up spending Christmas behind bars after being arrested for writing a bad cheque. Under normal circumstances that isn’t a felony but when the amount is for $70,000 and the recipient is the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas, then matters take on an altogether different complexion.
The 35 year-old linebacker officially retired from the NFL in July this year after a 13 year career which also included stints at Pittsburgh, Miami and Arizona. Back in 2010, Porter signed a three-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals worth $24.5 million but one of his accounts must have come up short after his cheque bounced at the Las Vegas casino.
Apparently, on eight different occasions between June and July Joey Porter received markers ranging between $5,000 and $20,000 at the casino. After then paying for his debts with a bad cheque, Porter had a felony warrant issued against him and was arrested on Friday after being stopped by a police officer performing a traffic stop in Bakersfield. Once the warrant was discovered, the officer then arrested Porter, who subsequently spent the next three days in jail before finally settling his outstanding $70,000 debt with the Hard Rock Casino. Initially, Porter was jailed with no bail and wasn’t expected to be released before December 26.
However, this isn’t the first time Joey Porter has had a brush with the law and in 2007 he faced a misdemeanor battery charge following a fight with former Bengals offensive lineman Levi Jones in a Las Vegas casino. In 2010, he was also arrested for drunk driving and assault on a Highway Patrol officer, although later those charges were  dropped.