Rashee Rice needs to worry about jail time as well as NFL suspension

The lawyer for Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice told reporters that he expects the police to file charges against his client soon. Rice has admitted to being behind the wheel of a Lamborghini that was involved in a six-car crash on a Dallas highway.

What kind of charges is he likely to face?

Pretty serious ones, including multiple felonies, as detailed by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

What could Rashee Rice be charged with?

Felony street racing: Videos of the crash make it fairly clear Rice's Lamborghini and the Corvette also involved in the crash were racing. Street racing is illegal in Texas. With bodily injury caused, it's a third-degree felony. It could rise to a second-degree felony with serious injury or death. The judgment of prosecutors will come into play here but the fact that someone needed to be treated at a hospital could be classified as serious injury.

Felony leaving the scene of an accident: Video also showed Rice and his companions leaving the scene of the crash. They did not render aid to the other drivers and passengers involved in the crash. They did not wait for authorities. Again the degree of felony will depend on whether injuries were determined to be serious in nature. Leaving the scene of an accident with serious injury or death is a third-degree felony. It is a fourth-degree felony if the injuries were not serious.

Possession of marijuana: There were 10.8 grams of marijuana discovered in the Lamborghini, according to police. If prosecutors wanted to throw the book at Rice, they could charge him with Class A misdemeanor marijuana possession. However, as Florio pointed out, it's the policy of the local prosecutor not to charge minor marijuana offenses.

Is Rashee Rice facing jail time for Dallas crash?

Yes. Felony charges could put Rice in danger of going to jail.

Felony street racing in the third degree carries a sentence of two to 10 years. In the more serious second-degree felony (with serious injury), the maximum sentence is 20 years.

Leaving the scene of an accident without serious injury is a felony punishable by one or five years in prison. The third-degree felony involving serious injury comes with a sentence of two to 10 years.

Since Rice is cooperating with authorities and has vowed to take responsibility for his actions, his lawyer could work with officials on a plea deal potentially involving lesser charges and lesser consequences.

Will Rashee Rice be suspended by the NFL?

Given the high-profile nature of this incident, Rice is likely to face an NFL suspension for violating the league's personal conduct policy, whether charges result in jail time or not. The length of that suspension is up to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

It's tough to draw parallels to any recent suspensions, however. Many NFL players have been arrested and charged with reckless driving. None have been suspended.

Suspensions have followed more serious vehicle-involved incidents. Donte' Stallworth received a one-year suspension in 2009 after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter for striking and killing a pedestrian while drunk driving. Josh Brent was suspended 10 games after serving a 180-day jail sentence for a drunk driving offense that resulted in the death of his teammate, Jerry Brown.

In 2018, Mychal Kendricks was suspended eight games after pleading guilty to insider trading. He served a one-day jail sentence.

Does embarrassing the NFL, like Kendricks, amplify the suspension? Where do Rice's offenses sit on the spectrum of reckless driving to vehicular manslaughter? That's the big question.