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Felony charges dropped against Shepherd players

September 25, 2007|By MATTHEW UMSTEAD

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Two Shepherd University football players arrested last week on marijuana-related charges were placed on six months of unsupervised probation Monday as part of an agreement reached in Berkeley County Magistrate Court.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Richard Stephens said felony charges against Demetrius B. Weeden, 22, of Waldorf, Md., and Ayowole G. Ijelu, 22, of Germantown, Md., were dismissed because "after further investigation it appears they weren't selling" the marijuana police found in the car in which they were riding Sept. 16. No scales or additional evidence to indicate they were dealing the drug was found, Stephens said.

In a brief court appearance before Magistrate Sandra L. Miller, Weeden and Ijelu signed no-contest pleas to misdemeanor counts of possession of marijuana. The pleas will not be entered in the court record if the men stay out of trouble during the probation period, according to Stephens and defense attorneys Betsy Giggenbach and J. Stephen Freda. They could then request to have their arrest expunged from the record, Giggenbach said.

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As part of the resolution, Weeden and Ijelu agreed to forfeit more than $1,800 in cash found in their possession when they were arrested and each was ordered to pay $160.50 in court costs.

Both declined to comment after the hearing.

Stephens said the prosecuting attorney's office was able to offer the men the opportunity to avoid further prosecution because they had no drug-related criminal history in Berkeley County.

Shepherd head football coach Monte Cater said Monday evening that Weeden and Ijelu apologized to him in individual meetings Sunday. Cater said he would make a decision on disciplinary action before the team's game Saturday against Seton Hill.

"It's hard to think everything just went away," Cater said after learning the outcome of the hearing Monday.

"I think it shows what can happen when you make bad decisions or poor choices," Cater added.

The men were arrested about 1:45 a.m. Sunday after West Virginia State Police Trooper J.R. Barker stopped a Grand Marquis in the McDonald's parking lot off Apple Harvest Drive just outside of Martinsburg.

Police found 27.5 grams of marijuana under the driver's seat and discovered Weeden was behind the wheel, according to court records. Ijelu was riding in the back seat.

Weeden was charged with possession of a controlled substance (marijuana) with the intent to deliver it and conspiracy to deliver the drug. Ijelu was charged of conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance (marijuana).

Placed in Eastern Regional Jail on cash-only bonds, both men were not released until Thursday, according to jail records.

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