LiAngelo Ball To Serve 20 Days Of House Arrest For Shoplifting In China

UCLA Bruins freshman basketball player LiAngleo Ball and his two teammates, who were arrested for shoplifting in Hangzhou, China, will serve 20 days of house arrest and be banished from the country.

Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill learned that they will be restricted to their Hyatt Regency Hangzhou hotel as punishment for allegedly stealing sunglasses from a nearby Louis Vuitton boutique, a source told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday.

The three players were released on bail Wednesday a day after they were arrested, but were restricted to their hotel rooms until authorities decided a punishment. The Bruins are in Shanghai as they prepare for Saturday’s season opener against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times posted on Twitter that the players aren’t bound to their rooms and are free to roam the area.

Law enforcement’s early release of the players may have indicated a lighter sentence, according to Jerome Cohen, member of New York University’s U.S.-Asia Law Institute. Yahoo Sports had reported that the players could face up to 10 years in prison if "standard practices are applied."

"This shows they’re getting special treatment," Cohen told USA Today. "Normally, the Chinese do not give bail, certainly not this early in a case that they’re going to prosecute. It usually is only given at the convenience of the police."

Ball, 18, is the son of LaVar Ball, founder of apparel company Big Baller Brand, and is the younger brother of Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball. LaVar Ball and some members of his family were visiting China with the team and has mostly been mum about his son’s case.

"I’m going to wait until I get more intel on what’s going on," LaVar Ball told ESPN on Wednesday. "He’ll be fine. Everyone’s making it a big deal. It ain’t that big a deal."