By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — Calling it a message to those attending sporting events that you can’t interfere with the game or try to intimidate a league official, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch announced that his office has filed a disorderly conduct charge against Jonathan Xavier of Pawtucket in connection with Xavier’s conduct at the Jan. 17 Providence College-Marquette basketball game at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence.

In addition, Lynch announced that by virtue of the misdemeanor charge brought against Xavier, his office will prosecute Xavier as a probation violator of a Superior Court drug conviction dating from 2005.
As has been widely seen and reported, the 24-year-old Xavier walked onto the court during the televised game and confronted a referee, James Breeding, over what Xavier perceived to be a non-call of a foul on the preceding play involving Xavier’s younger brother, Jeff, a senior guard for PC.
Providence Police arrested Xavier, of 30 Leonard Jenard Dr., and charged him with one count of disorderly conduct, but he was later released. He was scheduled to appear in Providence Municipal Court Tuesday morning for prosecution, but at the request of Lynch, the Providence Solicitor’s Office dismissed the charge, at which point Xavier was brought to the attorney general’s Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) for processing and finger-printing.
According to a press release from Lynch, BCI investigator Steve Springer then brought Xavier to Providence 6th Division District Court for his arraignment on the disorderly conduct charge.
He pleaded not guilty and District Court Judge Michael A. Higgins imposed a $10,000 surety bail and scheduled a pre-trial conference date of Feb. 13.
After the arraignment, Xavier appeared before Superior Court Magistrate William. J. McAtee, where Assistant Attorney General Bethany Macktaz presented him as a violator of probation of a Superior Court drug conviction, which originated from a Pawtucket Police arrest in September of 2004. Xavier was ordered held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institution and his case was referred to the Public Defender’s Office.
McAtee scheduled a determination of attorney date of Feb. 3 and a violation hearing of Feb. 10. Xavier served eight months of the six-year Superior Court sentence he received on May 24, 2005, meaning that if he is found to be a violator, he could face up to five years and four months in prison, said Lynch.
“This case is not about Jeff Xavier, a young man who by all accounts is working hard and succeeding in the classroom and on the court,” said Lynch. “It’s about the dumb and dangerous decision of a person who happens to be his brother, Jonathan, who crossed two lines when he walked onto the court in the middle of the PC-Marquette game.”
Lynch continued, “The first line he crossed was literal: the sideline of a basketball court. The second line was legal: as a convicted felon who was out on probation, Jonathan Xavier did not stay out of trouble. When he pled to his drug charges, he promised to keep the peace and be of good behavior. He didn’t keep his promise. Therefore, I am obligated to hold him accountable for his actions. That’s why we are prosecuting him on the new misdemeanor charge and as an alleged probation violator,” said Lynch.
Lynch added, “Our society has bounds of decency and decorum,” and said that Xavier “clearly violated these bounds.” He said that on one level, he intends the case to be a message to people who buy tickets and attend sports events in Rhode Island that “you can’t do what this defendant did.” He added that on another level, Xavier violated society’s criminal code, saying, “although the new alleged offense might not be considered serious by some, it is serious in the eyes of the law--particularly because it is not the defendant’s first criminal contact.”
Lynch continued, “I don’t want coaches or players of other teams who come to The Dunk to fear something like this happening again. If it happened in the middle of a PC or URI game anywhere else in the country, I’d hope that the DA of that jurisdiction would do the same thing.”