Alleged Felony Charges Surface Against NA Dota Player Korok, Will Not Affect His TI 5 Spot

09:15 PM June 24, 2015

In a thread that appeared on the North American Dota (NADota) forums last June 22, rumors have surfaced regarding the alleged accusations against Steven “Korok” Ashworth, who currently plays for North American Rejects (NAR). The team is slated to compete in the Wildcard Qualifiers of The International 5 in Anugust.

He is charged with malicious bodily injury, which is listed as a Class 3 felony on the Virginia justice system. The said charge is defined by the system as follows:

§ 18.2-51. Shooting, stabbing, etc., with intent to maim, kill, etc.

If any person maliciously shoot, stab, cut, or wound any person or by any means cause him bodily injury, with the intent to maim, disfigure, disable, or kill, he shall, except where it is otherwise provided, be guilty of a Class 3 felony. If such act be done unlawfully but not maliciously, with the intent aforesaid, the offender shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony.

(Code 1950, § 18.1-65; 1960, c. 358; 1975, cc. 14, 15.)

The above case sheet shows that he has been charged last June 18 and that the preliminary hearings have been postponed to a later date.

According to criminaldefenselawyer.com, a law consultancy website, if Korok is proven to be guilty of the abovementioned charges, then it is possible for him to have a maximum prison sentence of 20 years as well as having to pay a fine up to $100,000. However, considering that there is no final ruling on the case, the court may decide that it is just a misdemeanor, which in this case will either give him a one to five-year prison sentence or twelve months in jail and a fine of $2,500; still, the court may decide to dismiss the case altogether.

As stated above, the court proceedings still continue at the moment. Thus, he is considered to be innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Meanwhile, Greg “WhatIsHip” Laird, manager for NAR, has clarified in a Reddit post that Korok will be able to play in the Wildcard Qualifiers of Dota 2’s largest tournament.

In addition, WhatIsHip mentions that “everyone who needed to know about this situation was informed weeks ago” and that “the information in these threads is certainly incomplete (to the best of my knowledge) nor is it entirely accurate.”

The International 5, a tournament featuring the best Dota 2 teams from all over the world, has breached $14 million in prizes as of press time.