Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in New York on Tuesday and now waits to see if he will sit out the start of the 2009 football season. The expectation is Lynch will be suspended for somewhere from one to four games as a result of his latest scrape with the judicial system.

“The meeting took place as part of the review process relating to the recent incident,” said Greg Aiello, NFL senior vice president for public relations. The Bills released a similar statement.

Lynch pleaded guilty March 5 to a misdemeanor gun charge in Los Angeles and was sentenced to 80 hours of community service and three years of probation. The plea stemmed from a February arrest in California.

The fact it is Lynch’s second brush with the legal system in two years raises the specter of a suspension.

Goodell spoke informally with Lynch about off-field behavior last spring after Lynch was involved in a hit-and-run accident in Buffalo. He wound up pleading guilty to a traffic violation.

The NFL adopted a personal conduct policy in 2007 detailing off-the-field behavior that is subject to discipline from the commissioner.

It’s likely that Lynch will have to wait at least a couple of days, and probably a couple of weeks, before hearing a verdict. That has been the case in past disciplinary cases heard by Goodell. Players disciplined have the right to go back to the commissioner’s office and make an appeal of the decision.

Lynch’s arrest came after police smelled marijuana coming from a parked car that Lynch occupied with two other men, according to the police report. Officers searched the vehicle and found a loaded pistol and four marijuana cigarettes. They did not book any of the men for any drug offenses.

The presence of marijuana in the car could have implications for the league’s substance abuse program. A player does not have to be charged with any drug-related offense to be enrolled in the first stage of the program, which involves more frequent testing of a player for drugs. The league keeps confidential the status of any players in the substance-abuse program.