ATLANTA,None — One of the young men who accused Bishop Eddie Long of sexual abuse will serve a year of probation on a drug charge.
Jamal Parris pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute marijuana in a Miami courtroom Tuesday morning.
He told Channel 2 Action News investigative reporter Jodie Fleischer that he was never a drug dealer, that he wasn't trying to look like a drug dealer and that the whole arrest is a product of what he went through with Bishop Eddie Long.
"I read so many comments after I got arrested, but nobody ever took the time to look and say say, 'Yo, what the hell did he do?'" said Parris.
A trooper found drugs and a gun inside Parris's white BMW, during a traffic stop near Miami Beach in June. Prosecutors dismissed the gun charge.
"Do not come back before me on a probation violation," Judge Bronwyn Miller told Parris.
Parris told Fleischer he only got the gun to protect himself after rumors circulated on the internet about millions in settlement money from Bishop Eddie Long. Parris is one of four young men who filed lawsuits alleging Long misused his relationship as their spiritual father, to coerce them into sexual contact.
"You caught me with bud? Look at the sign of sexual abuse victims. What's the very first sign on any website you'll see? Alcoholism drug abuse," Parris said.
He told Fleischer he's in therapy to deal with his pain and anger and hopes people will reserve judgment about him.
"Judge me again, and then judge me again, and then judge me again. And still ask me could you do half the stuff we walked through?" Parris said.
As for recovering from his whole ordeal, he calls it a work in progress, "I'm still bringing the same demons and nightmares, so now I'm living a lifestyle that's meant to crash."
Parris will have to serve one year of probation and do 75 hours of community service.