Patriots’ Jones pleads not guilty
Patriots cornerback Jack Jones, who was arrested Friday on suspicion of attempting to bring guns through airport security, was released on bail Tuesday after pleading not guilty in East Boston Municipal Court to multiple weapons charges.
Jones, 25, is charged with two counts of possession of a concealed weapon in a secure area of an airport, possession of ammunition without a firearm identification card, unlawful possession of a firearm, carrying a loaded firearm, and possession of a large-capacity feeding device.
“He had no intention of bringing any guns into an airport that day,” his attorney, Rosemary C. Scapicchio, said after the arraignment. Scapicchio railed against the media and people on social media, who she said were characterizing Jones as a “thug.”
Jones was about to fly to Los Angeles Friday when a scan at a security checkpoint in Logan International Airport’s Terminal B showed two loaded 9mm Glock guns and two magazines in a black duffel bag with his name on it, according to the State Police report.
According to the report, State Police opened up the bag, which had a “Jones, Jack” tag, and found an unlocked Glock handgun box amid assorted clothes.
Inside, police said, there were the two guns, one loaded with a 10-round magazine and the other with a 15-round magazine. Also in the bag were a 10-round magazine and a 30-round magazine.
Jones walked into the courtroom Tuesday shortly before 9 a.m. in a dark gray suit. He sat next to Scapicchio, a Boston lawyer who gained notoriety from the Netflix documentary series “Trial 4” about her client Sean Ellis.
Jones sat quietly, picking at his fingernails. After more than half an hour, the clerk called Jones’s name.
The only words Jones spoke to the court came when the judge asked him how he was.
“I’m doing good,” Jones responded in a low voice. “How are you doing?”
Jones had already posted $30,000 bail over the weekend, and the judge kept it at that mark. The judge didn’t impose conditions, and Jones didn’t have a passport to surrender, according to his attorney.
Jones is in the second season of his four-year, $4.4 million rookie contract with the Patriots. His base salary for 2023 is $870,000, according to prior Globe coverage. He participated in the team’s offseason program that ended Friday, hours before his arrest.
The Patriots have not said publicly how they will respond to Jones’s arrest, which could lead to suspension under the NFL’s gun policy, the Globe has reported. Scapicchio declined to comment on any communications between Jones and the team.
“All Mr. Jones wants to do is play football,” Scapicchio said. “He doesn’t want to be a distraction at all.”
A five-star recruit out of Long Beach Polytechnic High School in California, Jones played two seasons at the University of Southern California before getting dismissed in May 2018 because of academic issues.
Three weeks after the team removed him from the roster, Jones was arrested at a Panda Express in Santa Paula, Calif., on suspicion of commercial burglary and conspiracy to commit a crime — two felony charges. The charges were later reduced to a second-degree misdemeanor. Jones served 45 days of house arrest as part of a plea agreement.
After eventually ending up at Arizona State, Jones was drafted by New England in the fourth round in 2022. He was given a two-game suspension by the Patriots last season, but analysts projected him to play a large role this year, potentially as one of the Patriots’ starting cornerbacks.
His next court date is Aug. 18.