Four football players charged with possession

Hot off the presses from ABC TV here in Raleigh — Jake Vermiglio, J.R. Sweezy, Markus Kuhn and George Bryan have been charged with possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and maintaining a dwelling for the use of a controlled substance.

NC State football players face drug charges

A search warrant filed by Raleigh police shows marijuana and drug paraphernalia was found in an apartment while four North Carolina State football players were inside.

Senior Offensive Lineman Jake Vermiglio, Redshirt Junior Defensive Tackle J.R. Sweezy, Redshirt Junior Defensive Tackle Markus Kuhn, and Redshirt Junior Tight End George Bryan are all named in the document.

A couple of interesting notes. This is Sweezy’s second encounter with the law in less than two months. Also, the apartment where the drugs were found was College Inn, a complex owned by The Wolfpack Club and directly associated with NC State.

Check back for more on this later. O’Brien will likely put out some sort of statement later in the day and I would expect suspensions (perhaps a dismissal for Sweezy) soon after.

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96 Responses to Four football players charged with possession

  1. packalum44 04/26/2010 at 1:52 PM #

    Wow some guys smoke pot. Not a big deal but I’m sure TOB and NCSU will find a way to shoot themselves in the foot AGAIN. If they miss a game over this I quit.

  2. Wolf-n-Atl 04/26/2010 at 1:54 PM #

    “Breaking news: Pot smell coming from a college dorm room.

    Let’s freaking find better use of our public tax money.”

    I don’t share this view. Drug use is a big deal. I don’t care how many people do it, it doesn’t make it right. This guys are role models to kids, probably kids of the readers on this blog.

  3. choppack1 04/26/2010 at 1:54 PM #

    “I believe the NFL has a warning first positive drug test but I could be wrong about this one.”

    They do – but you’re also enrolled in a fairly aggressive substance abuse testing program.

    The worst news is that these are 4 upper-classmen. 4 “leaders” of the team. TOB will know if these guys were doing the other stuff that they were supposed to be doing aside from that.

    It could definitely be a sign of a bigger problem or it could be nothing. He knows – and these guys teammates know.

  4. hoop 04/26/2010 at 2:00 PM #

    I file this under the category of WGAF (Who Gives A F***).

    Still, there TOB has to maintain an appearance of authority and the fact that it’s illegal is the real problem here.

    Hopefully, he gives them some type of token punishment and then everyone goes away.

  5. NCSU84 04/26/2010 at 2:06 PM #

    I hate that this has happened. Afterall, think back to your college days and the number of (at the time were fun, now seem stupid) things that you did. However, football players at a major university are held to a higher standard and should be aware of this. TOB will have to punish these players – he does not have a choice. Let’s just hope that the level of punishment is justified by the crime.

  6. LKNpackfan 04/26/2010 at 2:24 PM #

    These guys were at home playing videogames, not being jackasses out driving around or partying. Their conduct is unfortunate but hardly disgraceful.
    Let’s hope the Marine is reasonable about this. I’d like to see no more than 2-games for Sweezy and 1-game suspensions for Vermiglio and Kuhn, and none for Bryan (who had did not get charged with possession). Anything more than that would be excessive IMO.

  7. hoop 04/26/2010 at 2:29 PM #

    2 game suspensions are not excessive??

    I’m thinking a good punishment would be coming off the bench for the first game.

    I doubt that will happen though.

  8. EdMar 04/26/2010 at 2:32 PM #

    I’ll show my age. Back in the early 70’s,on the weekend before a big UNC basketball game. Our center Paul Coder and either Bobby Heuts or “Dirty” Dan Wells were caught with marijuana in their car just of Pullen Park. Norm Sloan after much soul searching might have supended them for one game EITHER BEFORE OR AFTER THE UNC GAME. We did beat the heels that game.

    I see much has not changed at State since my college days. TOB, teach them a lesson and suspend them for “one important game” I suggest the first game against Western Carolina.

  9. PackMan97 04/26/2010 at 2:32 PM #

    “I don’t share this view. Drug use is a big deal. I don’t care how many people do it, it doesn’t make it right. This guys are role models to kids, probably kids of the readers on this blog.”

    Why is drug use a big deal and why is it wrong? Why is it worse than cigarettes? or alcohol? Can you honestly say these kids are dong something worse than getting into a care after a few beers? or worse than chain smoking two packs a day?

    Our country is seriously messed up when it comes to drugs. The first round of prohibition led to the rise of organized crime, caused prisons to quadruple in population overnight and led to the creation of the FBI. In case you haven’t noticed, the second round of prohibition is doing even more damage than the first with just around the same results…that being the prohibited substance is still easily available and cheap.

  10. JEOH2 04/26/2010 at 2:38 PM #

    2 Game Suspensions for the Primary Offenders is Reasonable

    1 for any Secondary Offenders

    Include Community Service, Lengthy Probations When It Comes to Going Out Etc…Remember This is Less About the Drugs and More About the Illegality of It and How It Represents the Team…

    I Don’t Know What Happens to Young Sweezy…This May Be His Last Straw Which Is Unfortunate…

    And For Those Who Don’t Want TOB to Do Anything, You Must Not Remember How Undisciplined the Amato Years Got and How Horrible It Looked For the Program to the Media, to Fans, and to Recruits…

  11. phunisher 04/26/2010 at 2:39 PM #

    Well I am going to be a little embarrassed when my friends who pull for other in state universities bring up the fact that our football team looks like a bunch of thugs for getting CAUGHT getting high at the College Inn. We like to call out other schools for making gaffes like this but choose to let these things slide when its our team. When I did things like this, I wasn’t getting caught and if I did then I would be embarrassed for myself, my family, and my university that I am suppose to represent.

  12. Wolf-n-Atl 04/26/2010 at 2:53 PM #

    “Why is drug use a big deal and why is it wrong? Why is it worse than cigarettes? or alcohol? Can you honestly say these kids are dong something worse than getting into a care after a few beers? or worse than chain smoking two packs a day?”

    The main difference is the legality portion (assuming over 18/21 – for cigarettes/alcohol). I don’t think it is any worse than drinking and jumping into a car and driving and would have the same feeling towards that. I understand there are people that think it should be legalized, but until it is then it is going to be a big deal to me. As the poster above mentioned they embarrass themselves, their family and our university.

  13. i-might-pay-tuition-but-I-still-hate-UNC 04/26/2010 at 2:54 PM #

    Is anyone else appalled by the fact that the officer knocked on the door at 1 a.m. to say “hey, I smell weed” and these idiots still had the stuff with them when he came back with a warrant an hour later??

    I hate to condone the destruction of evidence, but my Lord, if you’re going to make the guy go get a warrant, the least you can do is not have the actual drugs sitting in front of you when he comes back. They might as well have just invited him in for a drink.

  14. Mike 04/26/2010 at 2:57 PM #

    Stupid and irresponsible. Is it the first time an athlete has been busted? Nope. But that still does not make it right. I am sorry, I have NO tolerance for drugs. They are illegal and as much as it hurts our team, suspend them for a year. Make the punishment hurt. These guys have a free ride on us, and they dont appreciate what they have.

    Maybe they can claim it was JJ Redick’s dope and they were just in the room.

  15. travelwolf 04/26/2010 at 3:05 PM #

    Who needs injuries when we’ve got snooping cops?

  16. Pack Leader 04/26/2010 at 3:11 PM #

    Also, the report states that “a cell phone with pictures of a marijuana plant in growth on it” was also seised. How can they take a personal phone? Is this appart of the search warrent? Is this normal to check every offenders phone for any pictures/texts/calls??? Second is it illegal to have a picture?? Somehow I just cant understand how they can use this… What if they had a book about cannibus?? Is that illegal too? What if they visited a marijuana website?? That illegal too??

  17. theTHRILL 04/26/2010 at 3:11 PM #

    You know the rules, you break the rules, you pay the price. Doesn’t matter if you agree with the rules or not.

    As for these being “minor” charges, Maintaining A Dwelling is a felony. Hardly minor.

  18. LKNpackfan 04/26/2010 at 3:15 PM #

    ^^^ I’m pretty sure a search warrant is easily obtained over the radio, likely a few minutes before he knocked on the door.

    Anyway, I’d love to read SFN’s resident attorney, GAWolf, comment on the stickiness of these charges. Maintaining a Dwelling seems a bit ludicris for 6 grams of marijuana.

  19. packplantpath 04/26/2010 at 3:24 PM #

    I’m no expert, but I’d guess this is another case of cops throwing every charge remotely related to the crime at them and hoping it sticks. I’d love for GAWOlf to chime in as well.

  20. Pack Mentality 04/26/2010 at 3:29 PM #

    A search warrant is obtained by lying to the kids and making them believe they have no choice but to consent to the search. A 20 year old stoned kid probably doesn’t know the difference. But they could have radio’d in and gotten the warrant if the kids didn’t give consent. The cops would have been with the kids the entire time.

  21. GAWolf 04/26/2010 at 3:30 PM #

    Anybody else just chuckle when they heard this?

    I’m not sure the legality of the charges really matters. The damage is done just in being charged. We just likely lost 4 starters for a couple of games.

    There is diversion available for those who are first offenders. There’s also sometimes diversion available in other situations should the facts warrant it as well. These young men can likely keep this off of their records, but that’s like telling your wife penicillin can get rid of the VD you picked up at a bachelor party.

    There’s a misdemeanor maintaining a dwelling charge as well.

  22. tjfoose2 04/26/2010 at 3:36 PM #

    “I’m a little concerned w/ the culture since Bryan had the pics on his phone. That tends to make me think he’s a little too interested in it.”

    Bryan is from New Hanover HS. Reputation of that school being as it is, not a surprise a NH grad got caught with some dope. Probably not a new thing for Bryan.

  23. WolfWall.com 04/26/2010 at 3:41 PM #

    I lived at College Inn last year and I CANNOT believe this. We had numerous parties where athletes came over from their rooms and they always got busted by the cops because college inn employs 2 off-duty RPD officers every night. The cops would knock on our door, we would open it, and the first thing out of their mouth EVERY TIME was “if you are an athlete leave right now so you don’t get in trouble.” and then the cops would proceed to badger the rest of us, make us pour out all our booze and what not if no one there was 21 etc while the athletes often grabbed their liquor and walked right out past the cops to go find another party or call it a night.

    One of my friends who lived right down the hall had a bag of weed found in his room over christmas break while they were doing quarterly inspections, he was an idiot and just had it sitting on his desk, and the property manager just confiscated it and left a note stating that nothing else would happen other than the confiscation but to not keep weed in his room unhidden.

    It was very obvious that college inn made it very apparent to the off-duty officers that they didn’t want ANYONE getting in any real trouble there and to keep athletes out of trouble at ALL COSTS. I always assumed the cops agreed because they were wolfpack fans or something, it was always the same 3-4 of them working all year.

  24. hoop 04/26/2010 at 3:41 PM #

    ^It ain’t THAT bad GAWolf!!

    I read through the search warrant. This cop was in uniform and patrolling the premises as hired by the mgmt. He states that he knocked on the door to verify his suspicions and then returned later with a search warrant. That would have given these guys time to get rid of the stuff. Makes you wonder why they didn’t. Maybe the cop said stuff to make them think everything was fine when it wasn’t.

    Also, the cop had probably cause anyway so I don’t know why he thought he would need a search warrant.

    It just makes me wonder what was said between the players and the cop the first time he knocked on the door.

    Also, the cell phone picture is relevant as it would help establish ownership of the paraphernalia.

    Judging by the warrant and what was seized, it seems like these guys may be slightly more than recreational (i.e. habitual) mary jane tokers.

    Edit: I assumed he left and came back; it’s not specified.

  25. El Scrotcho 04/26/2010 at 3:43 PM #

    Oh NOOOS – Reefer!!

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