Since Will Muschamp took over as Florida's head football coach in
December, cornerback Janoris Jenkins isn't the only player to run
into trouble with the law.
As was first reported by the Palm Beach Post, two other Gators have
been arrested during that span-both for possession of marijuana,
like Jenkins.
Defensive end Chris Martin and linebacker Kedric Johnson were both
arrested for possession of fewer than 20 grams of marijuana - a
first-degree misdemeanor - in separate incidents this year.
As of Monday afternoon, a UF spokesman could not be reached for
comment regarding the arrests.
Martin was cited on Jan. 29 after a Gainesville Police Department
officer saw Martin sitting in his vehicle at 104 N. Main St. and
detected the scent of fresh marijuana. After the officer
approached, Martin, 19, produced approximately 2 grams of the
substance and was cited.
Martin is a redshirt freshman who transferred to UF last summer
from California. He was rated as a five-star recruit out of high
school by Rivals.com and sat out last season due to transfer
rules.
Johnson's incident occurred on Jan. 9 after he was pulled over at
3000 NW 83rd St. by a GPD officer for speeding.
According to the citation report, the officer smelled a strong
scent of marijuana emanating from the vehicle and asked Johnson if
he had any illegal substances on him. Johnson told the officer he
had a small bag of marijuana in the glove box.
After searching Johnson's car, the officer found a small plastic
bag with approximately 2 grams of marijuana in it.
Johnson, 20, is a sophomore from Palmetto who recorded four tackles
in 13 games last year. This spring, Johnson missed the remainder of
camp after spraining his knee in late March.
Both Martin and Johnson consented to six-month deferred prosecution
agreements. Martin signed his on Feb. 9 and Johnson agreed to one
on Jan. 26.
As part of the deferred prosecution agreements, both had to pay a
nominal prosecution fee as well as either register 10 hours of
community service or donate $100 to Project Payback, a juvenile,
restorative justice and restitution program.
The two arrests, combined with Jenkins' two citations, make four
arrests already under Muschamp's watch.
Former coach Urban Meyer came under scrutiny during his tenure
because his players racked up a total of 31 arrests while he was in
charge.
