NYPD Blue's Jimmy Smits has committed to a major, season-long arc for the fifth season of FX's biker drama, Sons of Anarchy.

The actor is playing Neron "Nero" Padilla, a Latino gangbanger with an exit strategy who becomes a dangerous mentor for Jax (Charlie Hunnam).

Sons of Anarchy follows a motorcycle club that operates both illegal and legal businesses in the small town of Charming. They combine gun-running and a garage, plus involvement in porn film. Clay, the president, likes it old school and violent; while Jax, his stepson and the club's VP, has thoughts about changing the way things are, based on his dead father's journal. Their conflict has effects on both the club and their personal relationships.

Sons of Anarchy Season 5 of the hit series is scheduled to begin this fall.