Four UGA players arrested
Four Georgia players were arrested on Monday night for theft, the Athens Banner-Herald has reported.
The four arrested are safety Tray Matthews, defensive linemen Jonathan Taylor and James DeLoach and wide receiver Uriah LeMay.
The four were arrested and charged with ‘theft by deception’.
Here’s the definition of what the crime means on Reference.com: “There are a number of crimes in the state of Georgia that fall under the definition of theft by deception. Generally speaking, theft by deception occurs when a person uses deceit to acquire property, money or services from another individual, group of individuals or a business. A person may commit theft by deception intentionally or on accident, and the law and subsequent penalties are applied to cases where an individual deceived to obtain a service, or deceives to sell a service they have no intention of fulfilling to another party…..In the state of Georgia any crime related to theft, whether through the use of deceit or any other methods, are misdemeanors if the value of the service or property involved has a value of less than $500. These types of crimes are punishable by up to 18 months in a county jail. More severe offenses, involving monetary values over $500 are considered felony crimes with a maximum sentence of ten years in a state prison. In instances where a theft of deception occurred with a victim older than age 65, five years is the minimum enacted penalty.In Georgia any type of theft has minimum and maximum penalties attached with sentencing discretion left to the adjudicating judge, as long as his sentence falls within the established legal guidelines.
Macon.com reported that a victim was the UGA athletics department.
Mark Weitzer of the Athens Banner-Herald tweeted: “Tray Matthews, Jonathan Taylor and James DeLoach charged after alleged they double-dipped using a UGA-issued check“, and in a subsequent one, “Matthews, Taylor and DeLoach used mobile app to cash check and then went to store to cash same paper check, police say”, and in a third: “UGA WR Uriah LeMay allegedly cashed a discarded check that was issued to a roommate who was a UGA athlete“, adding: “At issue with UGA football player arrests: 11 student tuition checks cashed twice each since January 2014. Reported initially March 3.”
Matthews was charged on three counts, LeMay was charged on four counts, Taylor and DeLoach were arrested on two counts. The fact that these were misdemeanors mean that the monetary values of the crimes are punishable by up to 18 months in jail (see above).
The checks were each for $71, with the total cost $786.
UGA Police Chief Jimmy Williamson said that he was asked why UGA would turn their own players. He told the Athens Banner-Herald: “It’s a fraud issue so they have to account for any type of money. From an accounting standpoint, they get audited every year. And No. 2, it’s a compliance issue, there are athletes that received double funding and they want to make sure people know it wasn’t them giving double. They’re almost obligated to report whether they wanted to or not. I’m not saying they didn’t want to.”
Mark Richt said: “I’m aware of the situation and it will be handled in an appropriate way.”
BOTTOM LINE: The biggest loss to UGA will be Matthews. Not only is Matthews a promising player, but he started six games for the team. The Dawgs are still stinging from the dismissal of Josh Harvey-Clemons, who was thrown off the team for his inability not to consume marijuana.