Horton's criminal charges dropped in plea deal

Ithiel Horton's criminal charges were dropped as part of a plea deal Wednesday morning at the Pittsburgh Municipal Courthouse, opening the door for the Pitt guard to return to the team.

The criminal charges included aggravated assault, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. They stemmed from an incident on Nov. 6, two days before the season opener, when Horton was alleged to have assaulted a police officer after a traffic dispute. 

"We are very pleased today that this was resolved," Horton's attorney Phil Dilucente said after the hearing. "We are thankful to the Pittsburgh Police to accept the plea. Let's be very clear, this was a misunderstanding."

The original Nov. 18 preliminary hearing was rescheduled for Dec. 30 as the prosecution didn't have all its witnesses ready. Then when the arresting officer didn't show for the rescheduled hearing, Horton's charges were initially dropped and his suspension from the team was lifted. That allowed for him to play his only game of the season so far against Louisville on Jan. 5 when he scored 13 points and hit 3 of 5 three-pointers. 

But on Jan. 8 the charges were refiled and his suspension reinstated with a new preliminary hearing set for Wednesday. At approximately 11:20 a.m. in the morning, Horton's hearing was quickly settled with a plea deal where he pled guilty to three misdemeanors of two counts of disorderly conduct and one of public drunkenness.

"It took a long time to get here," Dilucente said. "I was frustrated because this young man is on scholarship and a leader in his community while on Dean's List for the past semester. He not only couldn't take the court, but had felony charges hanging over his head. As far as we're concerned, he's cleared today. This was very typical how this was resolved, but we know he received no special treatment whatsoever."

As a result, Horton's criminal charges were dropped and he was set to serve 80 hours of community service with anger management classes. Although he pled guilty to misdemeanors, the felony charges being dropped would allow him to return to the team from his suspension, per university policy.

"I'm just happy to get back to playing," Horton said. "I want to get back to my team and help us win some more games."

Pitt's next game is against Boston College Saturday.