New York Daily News

Telfair is hit with 2 ‘losses’

- BY NOAH GOLDBERG & LARRY MCSHANE

Ex-NBA point guard Sebastian Telfair was trapped this week by a legal double-team.

The one-time Coney Island hoops legend’s bid to overturn a 2019 conviction for weapon possession was rejected by a state appeals court just one day before Telfair was indicted on charges of ripping off the league’s health care program.

“We find [the evidence] was legally sufficient to support the defendant’s conviction of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree,” read the Wednesday ruling from a state Supreme Court Appellate Division panel. “We are satisfied that the verdict of guilt was not against the weight of the evidence.”

Telfair, 36 does not yet have a new court date or surrender date set for his gun case, and faces up to 3 ½ years behind bars for his conviction, according to Brooklyn prosecutor­s.

A call to Telfair’s attorney for comment Thursday on the ruling was not returned as his client, once featured on the cover of Sports Illustrate­d with the headline “Watch Me Now,” faced his latest in a series of off-court woes.

The Brooklyn gun possession case dates to June 11, 2017, when Telfair was stopped after making a U-turn while driving his Ford F-150 truck with the headlights off around 2:50 a.m., police said. When Telfair was pulled over, police spotted a marijuana joint in the console and found the loaded weapon in a search of the vehicle.

Telfair (photo) went directly from Lincoln High School into the NBA, following his cousin Stephon Marbury into pro basketball as a first-round pick of the Portland Trail Blazers in 2004. He spent a decade in the NBA, eventually playing for eight teams before retiring after the 2014-15 season.

He was previously arrested on a weapons charge in 2007 during a traffic stop where police found a loaded handgun inside his vehicle, with Telfair receiving three years probation for criminal possession of a gun.

His once-promising profession­al career ended following a 16-game stint far from home with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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