Aldon Smith won’t be charged for L.A. airport incident

For his part, Smith says he never used the word “bomb.” He was detained on April 13 after passing through airport security, officially for making a “false report of a bomb threat,” which in this day and age can mean many different things.

Smith will have to attend an office hearing on July 30 to address this incident at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office. This meeting will see Smith “admonished about the applicable laws and given suggestions on how to avoid similar incidents in the future,” according to Maiocco.

Of course, Smith can still be charged, for up to a year from the date of the incident, but provided everything goes well at this hearing (meaning Smith behaving), he should be getting out of this without issue. That’s fortunate, given Smith has other off-the-field issues to worry about.

Smith faces three felony weapons charges, two misdemeanor DUI counts and a count for a license plate switch on the vehicle used during the DUI last year. Smith has already missed time in connection with that DUI, when he took a voluntary leave of absence to enter rehab. He missed five games during that stretch, something that is expected to make a difference when it comes time for the NFL to make a decision on possible discipline for the prolific pass-rusher.

Smith pleaded no contest to the charges listed above. He could face up to 4 1/2 years in jail for them, but the odds seem good that he’ll end up with probation and possibly community service, as noted by David Fucillo of Niners Nation. Fucillo has already talked at length about the possibility of Smith getting suspended and has made some predictions as to whether or not he’ll actually miss time:

It would seem to be an upset if he was not suspended to start the season, but I also don’t expect an extensive suspension. Conceivably Goodell could decide to hand down a six-game suspension. However, Goodell has also said he will factor in Smith’s rehab stint last year. It won’t match up game-for-game, but I see that as being enough to lower a suspension to two-four games. My guess would be four, but it’s hard to tell for sure.

This is all speculation, of course. It’s likely we won’t hear anything further from the league office until after Smith’s July 25 court date, and even then, news of a suspension might not come down until closer to the start of the regular season. There’s not much precedent to look back on in regards to Smith’s voluntary rehab last season.