(This story was originally published on usatoday.com.)

Conor McGregor could face an upgraded felony charge of recklessness that increases the chance of his serving jail time and jeopardizes his ability to fight in the U.S. Or he could avoid any criminal charge with a good plea deal.

That was the range of possibilities presented by three former New York prosecutors who are criminal defense attorneys and spoke to USA TODAY Sports about the UFC’s stars legal trouble.

Julie Rendelman, a former prosecutor in Brooklyn, where McGregor was charged after attacking a bus at a UFC media event Thursday, noted that people sustained injuries during the incident.

“That’s the bigger issue to me,’’ she said. “If he used a weapon to injure one of the people in the face, that potentially could be upgraded to a felony.’’

McGregor, the MMA fighter, faces two felony charges for criminal mischief and 10 misdemeanors. He could face up to 11 years in prison for the two felonies, according to New York sentencing guidelines, but all three former prosecutors said it is unlikely McGregor will serve significant, if any, jail time.

“I can see him serving time,’’ Rendelman said. “But people do crimes in Brooklyn, in any jurisdiction in New York or anywhere that are potentially worse than this, and they get deals that allow them to not go to jail.’’

Two other former New York prosecutors said they think McGregor will strike a plea deal that reduces the charges to a single misdemeanor and possibly results in no conviction.

“But for his celebrity status, it’s just a run-of-the-mill case,’’ said William Kephart, a former prosecutor in Long Island. “People get into arguments and things get broken, fists are flying more times than not. …

“I would think given the fact that assault charges are misdemeanors and the most serious charge is criminal mischief, it’s unlikely he would face jail time.’’

Steven Raiser, another former New York prosecutor, said the charges are “generally not too serious.’’

“The good news for McGregor is that the most serious charge is the property damage charge,’’ he said by email. “With no prior criminal history, this will be reduced as part of a plea.’’

The District Attorney’s office has six months to indict McGregor and present the case to a grand jury at before the case could potentially be dismissed, Rendelman said. McGregor’s next scheduled court date is June 14. Before then, the former prosecutors say, McGregor’s attorney is expected to initiate talks with the District Attorney’s office.

A key focus will be McGregor’s immigration status because any conviction could restrict the fighter’s ability to travel in the U.S., said the former prosecutors, who noted McGregor’s defense attorney likely will be working with an immigration attorney.

Rendelman said the District Attorney’s office in Brooklyn generally is sensitive to immigration issues, but she also said, “Keep in mind, no one likes someone coming to Brooklyn and doing something that kind of damages the community. So that’s also something they’re going to take into consideration because there is some level of disrespect for him doing what he did and (it was) dangerous on top of everything.’’

Raiser said McGregor’s celebrity status could work in the fighter’s favor.

“Because he is a high-profile athlete, there is a lot of good he can do with the youth,” Raiser said. “If the DA is smart, they’ll work out a deal which will involve him giving back to the community.”

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Josh Peter is a reporter for USA TODAY Sports. Follow him on Twitter at @joshlpeter11.