Ray Rice pleads not guilty for third-degree aggravated assault

Ravens running back Ray Rice entered a not guilty plea on a third-degree aggravated assault charge at his arraignment conference on Thursday in Mays Landing, N.J.

The Baltimore Sun's Justin Fenton reports that Rice applied to enter a pretrial diversion program since he's a first-time offender. If for some reason he's not accepted into the program, prosecutors will still offer a plea involving probation and no jail time.

"He is going to make an application to the pretrial intervention program," prosecutor Diane Ruberton told The Sun. "If he's not accepted, the plea offer will be probation. We're not requesting jail time."

Rice and now-wife Janay Palmer were arrested in February on misdemeanor assault charges after an incident at Revel Casino in Atlantic City, N.J. Palmer's charge was later dropped and Rice's was upped to third-degree aggravated assault. TMZ released a video on its website showing Rice dragging an unconscious Palmer out of an elevator at the casino.

At the time of the incident, Palmer was Rice's fiancée. The two have since wed in a private ceremony.