Florida football fans may be interested to learn NFL free agent Greg Hardy has been charged with cocaine possession in Texas. Hardy, who played for the Carolina Panthers and then the Dallas Cowboys, was arrested on Sept. 26 after a traffic stop near Dallas.
According to authorities, police officers pulled Hardy over and found a bag of what is alleged to have been cocaine while searching his car. The 2013 Pro Bowler told authorities he did not know how the bag ended up in his vehicle. Court documents indicate the bag contained 0.7 grams of cocaine. Hardy faces a single count of felony cocaine possession, which is punishable by up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Hardy, 28, hasn’t played in the NFL since the last game of the Cowboys 2015 regular season. The NFL suspended him for four games in 2015 over a 2014 domestic violence incident where he allegedly dragged his ex-girlfriend around by the hair and threw her into a bathtub. The case was dropped after Hardy’s former girlfriend refused to cooperate with prosecutors.
A conviction on drug possession charges can bring serious consequences, including incaceration and steep fines. Accordingly, people who are facing such allegations may want to meet with a criminal defense attorney in order to determine how best to combat them. If the drugs were found during a traffic stop, for example, an attorney may determine that the authorities did not have the requisite reasonable suspicion. If that is the case and the court agrees, the evidence could be ruled inadmissible.
Source: CBS Sports, “Ex-Cowboy Greg Hardy indicted on felony count of cocaine possession,” John Breech, Nov. 7, 2016