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. Red Rider 04/26/2010 at 9:23 PM #

    Do what Coach Paterno at Penn State did a few years back when his players got in trouble and have them clean Carter Finley after each home game. Work the heck out of them in practice each day. Don’t suspend them from a game for this. When Bryan and Vermiglio aren’t in the game you’re not just punishing Bryan and Vermiglio, you’re punishing the entire team.

  2. john of sparta 04/26/2010 at 9:41 PM #

    well…i declare.
    is this the “tipping point”?

  3. LRM 04/26/2010 at 9:57 PM #

    All of you that think there’s nothing wrong with college kids smoking weed clearly never had your freshman roommate steal your Pearl Jam and Candlebox CDs and sell them to School Kids so he could buy pot from the guy across the hall.

  4. EdMar 04/26/2010 at 10:35 PM #

    What ever happened to moist towels under the door and a fan on a back window? I guess linemen are not that smart after all!

    If we started over with every single athlete, coach and athletic director we could not loose much. Maybe this is a good time to do it.

  5. highstick 04/26/2010 at 11:53 PM #

    Ok, Cowdog, who was it? You’ve got me interested!!

    I never was much a fan of that stuff and even less so after I got into some really bad junk one night in Raleigh. It cured me and never touched it again! Thought I was gonna die!

  6. coach13 04/27/2010 at 8:41 AM #

    It still just blows my mind how kids don’t covet these gifts of scholarship and opportunity. But it is and will get worse in the coming years for all programs. My wife teaches middle school in Johnston County, and the majority of kids do not fear repercusions. Most have no appreciation when they have good situations. And parents do not discipline but instead cover up for their kids. I got my ass beat, I was guilty in my parents eyes until proven innocent when an adult charged me with bad behavior…and that is how I raise my kids.

    I don’t think it is a big deal, the pot and drinking, if you are paying your way there…but these kids have been given privelage and incredible opportunity.

    I do hope, if they remain, that they have to get up at a podium and explain in front of their entire team, how their personal exploits (partying, pot) are more important to them than their team and the team’s success.

  7. coach13 04/27/2010 at 8:45 AM #

    And on a side note, which we have not discussed, is the role of the facility owners. Are they trying to control and create a safe haven for these guys to behave like this? Get guards who will protect the players? I want a response from that aspect of the story. Sounds like a crack down in the entire wolfpack club organization is prudent.

  8. emr62 04/27/2010 at 9:00 AM #

    Guess it is hard to keep your head in the game if your a pot-head.
    Suspend them all for 2 games (if this is a first offence). If they test postive or have any other infractions please dismiss them from the team and pull their scholarships…

  9. Sam92 04/27/2010 at 9:17 AM #

    certainly, people are divided over this

    i’m definitely in the legalize it camp, smoking a joint is no worse than drinking a six pack

    and i don’t like the way this went down either – off duty cop, smelled something, got a search warrant? are we living in a police state?

  10. coach13 04/27/2010 at 9:57 AM #

    A guess…”Hey…what’s going on in there?”. Reply: “F@#$ Off mall cop”. Reaction: “I’ll show’em Mall Cop!”.

  11. VaWolf82 04/27/2010 at 10:58 AM #

    General note…no one else really cares what you (or I) think about the larger issue of legalizing marijuana. There is no reason to even bring your stance up because you are not going to change anyone’s mind.

    The bottom line is that both college and professional football players are drug screened for marijuana use and there are consequences for those that get caught. The rules against using illegal (and some legal) drugs are well known and there’s not any way around them. These kids were stupid and got caught. All that’s left to discuss is how many games they will be suspended for.

  12. Thinkpack17 04/27/2010 at 11:56 AM #

    “All of you that think there’s nothing wrong with college kids smoking weed clearly never had your freshman roommate steal your Pearl Jam and Candlebox CDs and sell them to School Kids so he could buy pot from the guy across the hall.”

    Clearly. Because my roomy would have been face down on the cold, Metcalf tiling if he ever tried to bully me like that.

  13. nycfan 04/27/2010 at 12:19 PM #

    Agree with Pack97’s sentiments (pg 1) on the WoD and will leave it at that. But I hardly think it is a disgrace for college kids to smoke pot any more than it is for them to drink underage; they do know what risk (however much I disagree with it being a legal risk) they are taking by doing so, but still, if they’re in their room not bothering anyone, really, who cares?

    If Kuhn has real immigration status issues, though, he should get good counsel and be aware that pleading guilty to a felony (even for a suspended sentence/probation/community service) could trigger automatic deportation procedures.

  14. GAWolf 04/27/2010 at 3:19 PM #

    Thoughts on what Mark Thomas, one of our own, had to say about this subject on WRAL.COM today?

    http://www.wralsportsfan.com/voices/blogpost/7492809/

  15. wufwuf 04/27/2010 at 3:44 PM #

    all i have to say is ncsu needs to get their athletics on a big turn around, if sydney lowe doesn’t do good with one of the top ten recruiting classes in the nation he needs to be fired, if lee fowler doesn’t have the balls to fire him, he should be fired. if we dont go to a bowl game this year yeah tom o’brien needs to be fired as well. all we have are mediocre sports teams, nc state fans deserve more than that. we should be able to be MAJOR competition with other ACC schools, like we used to be, especially our down the road rivals-duke and unc. mediocre shouldn’t be good enough and im tired of settling for it. maybe we should stop recruiting these jackasses that just sit in their room and smoke pot and whatever the hell else they are doing. also putting a focus on academics, i mean what else are you in school for, unc and duke have stellar athletic programs and their players excel in the classroom as well as on the court.

  16. PackMan97 04/27/2010 at 4:38 PM #

    Something else to keep in mind here about how disgraceful it is that these kids broke the law and smoked some weed.

    It has been 18 years since we’ve had a President that did not admit to smoking marijuana. Does anyone find it just a bit hypocritical that the highest officials in our government admit to smoking pot, and then are more than willing to continue to enforce the laws that ruin the lives of kids?

    I had a coworker whose daughter couldn’t get an asst manager job at a drug store because she got busted smoking pot in the mall parking lot when she was 16. Stupid thing to do, and even dumber not to get a plea deal for it, so it’s on her record…but she’s got this misdemeanor drug charge that prevents her from getting a crap load of jobs.

    It’s just mind boggling…we’ll let a dope smoke be President if they have the right connections, but for the rest of ’em…throw ’em in jail, take away their scholies, bench ’em for a few games, etc.

    The War on Drugs is a miserable failure. It’s time to end it.

  17. tuckerdorm1983 04/27/2010 at 6:25 PM #

    rules are the rule and they knew the rules. Idiots all. TOB has no choice but to thrown them off the team permanently. I will be surprised if he does anything less than that. The article in the N and O sums it up

    “After knocking on the door and meeting the tenants to confirm his observations, the warrant said, investigators returned with a warrant and seized three plastic bags filled with about 6 grams of marijuana, a “blunt” cigar stuffed with marijuana, two homemade bongs and other paraphernalia. Bryan’s Blackberry cell phone, which included photos of a marijuana plant, also was seized, according to the warrant”

    Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/04/27/455436/four-pack-players-face-pot-charges.html#ixzz0mLKNCGrL

  18. Wulfpack 04/27/2010 at 7:01 PM #

    From Mark Thomas’ column:

    “Playing college football is not a right. It’s a privilege.”

    Bingo. That’s all that it comes down to. If you want to go be a bum and smoke pot in college, then go right ahead. Just know that those folks you’re getting high as a georgia pine with weren’t on a full scholarship and probably don’t have the opportunity to go make millions of dollars professionally if you can string together a nice career.

    My high school football coach had a zero tolerance policy when it came to his players drinking. If a player was even accused of drinking, or even being in the presence of it, then you sat the next game. If one guy drank, and the other guys didn’t stop him, everyone involved sat. He was the judge. He was the jury. And you know what, he was a damn good coach.

    Harsh you say? Sure. But we all learned a valuable lesson. A team is only as strong as its weakest link. If a guy wants to go out and be a bum for an evening, then fine. But just know there are consequences. Know that you’ll have a scarlet letter the following week. And know that your teammates are going to be all over you the next week.

  19. tuckerdorm1983 04/27/2010 at 7:16 PM #

    num nuts

  20. redwolf87 04/27/2010 at 8:31 PM #

    I guess it’s too late to get my money back for this year, huh?

  21. TheCOWDOG 04/27/2010 at 8:55 PM #

    ” Thoughts on what Mark Thomas, one of our own, had to say about this subject on WRAL.COM today? ”

    GAWolf, to be honest with you, Thomas is doing his job. Whatever button he chooses to push is his choice. If he believes what he pontificates, then I suppose I’d have to call him a jackass that needs to come to grips with some freakin’ realities that a sports commentator should have had experience with years ago. As in, ” Where the hell have you been? ”

    If he has an agenda, can anyone tell me what his take on Rothliesberger, Williams, etc. was? But, because of slow sports news the local media has no choice but to play the listeners.

    Now, I fear, Obie may be forced into something that need not become public grist. I hope that he refuses to play into their hands.

    Since you mentioned our own GAWolf,…what about our own that spew excommunication over this?

    Without apologies, I say, ” where have you guys been? ”

    If you have a mind to, GAWolf, get Mr. Cmack’s take.

    EDIT: Here’s another thing. It’s off season for these guys until August. Something that ya’ll might want to keep in mind. Trite but true.

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