Xavier Jordan Powell, 20, a resident of Bemidji State University Oak Hall and a former forward on the Beavers men's basketball team, pleaded guilty and was sentenced Tuesday in Beltrami County District Court to gross misdemeanor charges of theft and reckless handling of a pistol.
The charge of reckless handling of a pistol was reduced from the original charge of felony theft of a firearm.
Powell was sentenced to serve 15 days of a one-year jail sentence and two years unsupervised probation. He is also required to pay a $1,000 fine and is prohibited from having contact with the victims. He is also required to pay restitution, though the amount has yet to be determined.
Powell, a junior, was suspended from the BSU basketball team following his arrest in January.
On Jan. 22, residents of the 1100 block of Beltrami Avenue Northwest reported that a .22 caliber Ruger pistol, an Xbox 360 and about 15 games were missing from their residence. The residents said they suspected Powell stole the items because he dates one of their female roommates and was often at the home playing with the Xbox. The criminal complaint also stated that the residents reported some bad feelings between Powell and one of the roommates. They said Powell had been asked to leave the house and not return.
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Officers then went to Powell's room at Oak Hall and obtained a search warrant. According to the complaint, Powell pulled from under the bed a duffel bag with an Xbox matching the description of the stolen game system in plain view. The complaint states that Powell then told police the gun was under the mattress. It also matched the description given by the owner. The firearm was loaded at the time it was seized.
