Nine suspended Florida Gators facing multiple third-degree felonies charges

Football

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Image Credit: ESPNI

Sworn affidavits were filed Monday against the Florida Gators presently suspended for the team for alleged fraud. Seven of the players, including junior stars wide receiver Antonio Callaway and running back Jordan Scarlett, are facing a pair of third-degree felony charges.

Redshirt freshman defensive lineman Jordan Smith faces five third-degree felony charges, while freshman offensive lineman Kadeem Telfort faces roughly 30 third-degree felony charges.

Per the complaint filed against the players, investigators found that “students had added large amounts of funds electronically to their UF Bookstore debit accounts using one or several different credit cards that did not belong to them. Some of the students even saved the card for future charges. … The students then used the funds in their UF Bookstore debit accounts to purchase items from the UF Bookstore in person. … Most of the items purchased were electronics, including items such as laptops, iPads and Beats headphones.”

The two universal charges are for fraud (swindling property valued at under $20,000) and impersonation (using or possession of a person’s identification without consent). Junior defensive lineman Keivonnis Davis, who was expected to see time as a rotational player this season, along with redshirt sophomore DL Richerd Desir-Jones, redshirt freshman WR Rick Wells and freshman linebackers James Houston IV and Ventrell Miller also received both charges. Smith was hit with three additional impersonation charges. Telfort faces the fraud charge, 13 impersonation charges (for forging names on food deliveries), 12 illegal use of credit card charges and three charges of passing off a false instrument.

Callaway, Scarlett, Desir-Jones and Miller each transferred slightly under $2,000 to their respective University of Florida accounts. Smith added over $3,500. Telfort and Davis transferred about $1,500, while Wells and Houston added under $1,000. Smith and Telfort attempted multiple transactions, may of which failed, though a handful were successful. Smith is also accused of using cards to pay an outstanding UF Transportation and Parking balance of nearly $1,500 and $800 in rent. Telfort is also accused of “multiple credit cards to make multiple transactions, including sending money to his UF account, purchasing items and ordering food.”

Scarlett allegedly used a card on another student’s account (that of his girlfriend) in an attempt to hide the fraud and claimed that Smith added the funds to the account. He told her that the money added to her account was “from an agent in New York.” Wells told police that his girlfriend added the money to his account with her credit card, a statement she corroborated but one that contradicted the evidence.

Specific complaints also show that many of the players have already paid back the funds to settle their accounts.

Head coach Jim McElwain did not comment on the suspended players during his Monday press conference even as news broke about the charges while he was speaking. Athletic director Scott Stricklin released a statement hours later.

“We obviously took this matter very seriously as evidence[d] by Coach McElwain’s decision to suspend the players immediately and indefinitely from all team activities,” he said> “We have respected the appropriate process from the beginning and will continue to do so.”

Per UF policy, students are generally suspended from school while facing felony charges. That means student-athletes like football players would be ineligible to compete under such circumstances.

However, pretrial diversion will likely be available from the state for most of the players. A common PTD would work to ensure players without criminal records do not ultimately face these charges as they would be forced to return the stolen funds, perform community service and take part in programs that prevent future criminal acts. One could see players in PTD potentially having their suspensions lifted with punishment being time served if allowed to continue in school.

However, players with prior records or a significant number of charges may not be offered PTD by the state attorney, which would severely limit Florida’s ability to reinstate them this season … or possibly at all.

McElwain stated Monday during his press conference that the players were still enrolled in school at that time (as they had not yet been charged with felonies).

“Our team kind of had moved on and then we’ll deal with whatever it is when it comes up,” he said. “I think there’s one thing [the other players] have done a pretty good job of is dealing with some things.”

Below are the felony statutes with which the players are being charged:

Third-degree felony fraud: “Any person who engages in a scheme to defraud and obtains property thereby is guilty of organized fraud … if the amount of property obtained has an aggregate value of less than $20,000”

Third-degree felony fraud — impersonation: “Any person who willfully and without authorization fraudulently uses, or possesses with intent to fraudulently use, personal identification information concerning an individual without first obtaining that individual’s consent, commits the offense of fraudulent use of personal identification information, which is a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided”