Recently Chad “Ocho-Cinco” Johnson met with Coach Joe Philbin about the domestic violence issue that has turned his life upside down over the weekend. The meeting was captured by the crew at “Hard Knocks” (a weekly HBO documentary series following the Dolphins which aired last night).

During the very short meeting, Johnson told Philbin …

“Coach, I’ve never been in trouble before … ever.”

Apparently “Ocho-Cinco” does have a prior conviction of domestic voilence that goes back before he was even in the NFL.

According to TMZ , court records say that  Johnson was arrested for misdemeanor domestic battery in L.A. on February 7, 2000, just before he began playing football for Oregon State University.

Sources close to the case tell us the victim was his girlfriend at the time … and she told police the football star had slapped her in the face after he accused her of cheating on him.

Johnson — 22 years old at the time — pled no contest … and the court found him guilty of domestic battery. He was sentenced to 3 years probation and ordered to serve 45 days in L.A. County Jail. But Johnson struck a deal with the court which allowed him to avoid jail … as long as he completed 30 days of graffiti removal work with CalTrans. Johnson was also required to complete a 12 month batterer’s counseling program and ordered to stay 100 yards away from the victim.

But Johnson didn’t complete his probation requirements in a timely manner … according to court records, he blew off the hard labor AND the domestic violence program for years.
After a judge tacked on an additional 15 days of graffiti removal, Johnson finally completed his legal obligations in 2002 … when he was a member of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Stay tuned for more upates on this case.