KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice was ordered to serve 30 days in jail Tuesday after testing positive for marijuana, which violated the terms of his probation for his role in a crash that left multiple people injured on a Dallas highway two years ago.
The Texas State Attorney’s Office said Rice was to report to jail immediately as part of his original sentence last July, when he pleaded guilty to third-degree felony charges of collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway causing bodily injury.
As part of his plea agreement last summer, Rice was sentenced to five years of deferred probation and 30 days in jail as a condition of his probation, prosecutors said. The agreement had given him flexibility on the timeframe for serving that jail sentence.
“We are aware of the reports and have been in touch with the league office,” a Chiefs spokesman told The Associated Press, declining further comment. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy likewise said the league was “aware of the report” and declined to comment.
Messages left with Rice’s attorney were not immediately returned.
The timing coincides with the NFL’s offseason workout phase, which means Rice will miss valuable work with the team. The Chiefs are due to start voluntary workouts May 26 and they have a mandatory three-day minicamp beginning June 9.
The case stems from an accident in March 2024, when the 26-year-old Rice was driving a Lamborghini Urus SUV at 119 mph (191 kph), made “multiple aggressive maneuvers around traffic” and struck other vehicles, prosecutors said. The prosecutors also said that after that crash on North Central Expressway that Rice failed to check on the welfare of those in the other vehicles and fled on foot.
During training camp prior to last season, Rice said he had “completely changed” and grown from the experience, which resulted in a six-game suspension handed down by the NFL for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy.
“You have to learn from things like that,” Rice said. “I’ve learned and taken advantage of being able to learn from something like that.”
The latest legal trouble Tuesday comes at an especially bad time for Rice, who also paid one of the crash victims $1 million as part of a mediated agreement and $115,000 to cover victims’ medical expenses. The second-round pick in the 2023 draft is heading into the last year of his rookie contract, and teams are likely to weigh his off-the-field trouble in deciding on his next contract.
When available, Rice has been a solid wide receiver, catching 156 passes for 1,797 yards and 14 touchdowns and helping Kansas City win the Super Bowl in the 2023 season. But his suspension coupled with a knee injury — a freak accident when Patrick Mahomes hit his knee while trying to make a tackle — have limited Rice to playing just 28 games over his first three seasons.
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AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.
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