Three members of the Florida Gators basketball team were arrested on April 10 for burglary in St. Augustine, FL. Forwards sophomore Erik Murphy and freshman Cody Larson were caught allegedly breaking into a car, and team manager Joshua Adel was arrested for principal to burglary because he allegedly served as a lookout. No items were reported missing from the vehicle in the attempted theft.
One month later, all three men have had their respective charges lessened by the state with two of them still facing legal action, according to The Gainesville Sun‘s Kevin Brockway who spoke with a representative at the State Attorney’s Office.
Larson and Murphy now have second-degree misdemeanor charges for criminal trespassing (instead of third-degree felonies for burglary), while Adel’s charge was not just reduced, it was thrown out altogether.
“[Larson and Murphy] have paid restitution to the victims to get a headlight fixed,” spokesperson Shannon Peters told the Sun. “The charges reflect that they tried to go into another person’s car without permission. [Adel] was charged as being the lookout when the evidence showed that wasn’t the case. He was, in fact, discouraging them.”
Brockway also reports that a court date has not yet been set for Murphy and Larson to enter their respective pleas.
Reduced charges, good news. I really hope Murph gets another chance to bring it hard and do it right on and off the court for the Gator Nation.
Glad to hear Adel’s charges were dismissed, hope he gets another shot with the team because after hearing the tapes he was the only one who sounded like he had any sense.
As a Gator Fan, I am happy about this decision. As a person, not so sure. That audio was pretty damning and I’m not sure how I feel about those two returning, along with Adel being the person punished the most. But that, is simply my opinion.
Does a misdemeanor usually count as a violation of probation?
Depends on the misdemeanor and the punishment but yes, it should.
I swore I read that Adel had been kicked off of the team. Did I miss something Adam, is he still with the Gators?
All three are indefinitely suspended, I believe.
Good news for the program, but I think the cops just got there before they got in more trouble. What a stupid thing to do. It’s one thing to find yourself in a bad situation, but these idiots went looking for one.
Glad that at least Adel won’t have a record.