Studying criminal justice didn't do much to keep one former UF student out of trouble.
Seung Yong Lee, 23, has been arrested for theft, drug dealing and, most recently, aggravated assault and burglary after threatening to cut his roommate's finger off with a pair of garden shears, according to police.
Lee's troubles with the law go back at least two years, when he was picked up in Tampa for allegedly stealing a $660 cashmere shirt from Neiman Marcus.
Lee admitted to stealing the shirt, according to a police report, and said if had he known it cost that much he would've stolen one worth less than $300 because he had just learned the amount that resulted in felony theft in a criminal justice class.
In May of 2008, Lee was video- and audio-taped selling hundreds of dollars worth of oxycodone, hydrocodone, cocaine and marijuana, according to police reports.
Later, when police searched his home, they found almost 8 ounces of marijuana, more than an ounce of cocaine, drug paraphernalia and two guns. Police also seized 20 $100 bills they found in a red cooler during the search. He told police the money was his mom's.
Lee, who was a UF student at the time, told police he didn't sell drugs to make money and that he had scholarships.
In April, Lee gained police attention again when he was pulled over for a traffic violation on campus and police found almost 12 ounces of marijuana, two ecstasy tablets and drug paraphernalia in his car. He faced a total of 18 drug-related charges, including five felonies and was banned from campus.
The charges were dropped, however, after the State Attorney's Office decided a judge would likely dismiss them, spokesman Spencer Mann said, adding that he didn't know why the office thought the charges would be dismissed.
On Oct. 6, Lee was arrested on charges stemming from his alleged drug deals in 2008. Two days later, on the day he bonded out of jail, he was arrested after police said he forced his way into his roommate's bedroom and placed one of the roommate's fingers in a pair of garden shears, threatening to cut it off.
A third roommate - another former UF student - told the victim he would cut his body up with a saw and dump it in the swamp, according to the police report.
Lee was still in jail on a $35,000 bond as of Tuesday night.
Lee's lawyer, Joshua Silverman, said the incident was simply a disagreement between roommates and said Lee denies making any threats.
Silverman said he wasn't familiar enough with Lee's drug charges to comment.
Lee was last registered as a student in fall 2008, according to the UF Registrar's Office.
As a result of his recent arrests, Lee was banned from campus again last week.
He told the officers who served the notice that he planned to contact UF about re-enrolling at a later date, according to a police report.
