Ohio State football legal, disciplinary problems under ressel
[size=-1]Associated Press[/size]
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Players who have had legal or disciplinary problems during Jim Tressel's tenure as Ohio State's head coach (does not include common traffic offenses):
Oct. 22, 2004_The all-nude strip club Pure Platinum files a complaint against Ohio State tailback Lydell Ross that he passed fake in-house currency at the suburban club a few hours after the team lost its third game in a row the previous Saturday at Iowa. No charges are filed, but Ross is suspended from the team for the Indiana game and is dropped on the depth chart behind freshman Tony Pittman.
May 1, 2004_Sophomore backups Louis Irizarry and Ira Guilford are arrested and charged with robbery after a student is assaulted and his wallet is stolen at 3 a.m. They are held in Franklin County jail through the weekend. Both plead innocent to the robbery charge, with Guilford released after paying a $25,000 bond. Irizarry is held pending a hearing to determine if he had violated his probation from an earlier assault conviction. He later pleads guilty and is given a three-year prison sentence. Guilford is sentenced to two years probation for his role in the robbery, punching the student before Irizarry took the wallet.
Nov. 16, 2003_At 3 a.m. after a win over Purdue and six days before the Michigan game, wide receiver Santonio Holmes and quarterback Troy Smith are charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct after a fight in a parking lot on campus. A window in a car is kicked out and one woman reported her jaw was broken. At least one other prominent Buckeye is at the scene but is not charged. Holmes is held out of the starting lineup at Michigan but returns to play most of the game. Holmes also started in the Buckeyes' Fiesta Bowl game. He pleads innocent to the disorderly conduct after the team returns to Columbus. The disorderly conduct charge is dismissed against Holmes on March 30, 2004. Smith is found guilty of the charge.
Oct. 27, 2003_Irizarry is charged with three counts of first-degree misdemeanor assault after three people sustain minor injuries during a fight in a Park Hall dorm room. Irizarry is suspended two days later. He is found guilty of one charge each of assault, negligent assault and disorderly conduct and pays $404 court costs and is put on probation. He is later reinstated to the team and is listed as the second-team tight end on the 2004 spring depth chart before he is suspended indefinitely after the May 1, 2004, arrest.
April 2003_Running back Maurice Clarett reports that a car he has borrowed from a local used-car dealer was broken into and thousands of dollars in cash, CDs, stereo equipment and clothing was stolen. The car was in the parking lot at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center and Clarett calls police from a telephone in Tressel's office. Clarett was later charged with lying to police about the value of the stolen items and is charged with misdemeanor falsification of the police report on the theft. Clarett pleads guilty on Jan. 14, 2004, to the reduced charge of failure to aid a law enforcement officer. He is ordered to pay the maximum fine of $100 and serves no jail time. The charge does not appear on his criminal record.
Oct. 13, 2002_Linebacker Fred Pagac Jr. is charged with persistent disorderly conduct. Pagac was arrested at 3:45 a.m. after police said he was intoxicated and had a role in a fight involving two women outside a campus-area bar about 12 hours after the Buckeyes' homecoming victory over San Jose State. The police report said an officer told Pagac to stop but he continued to fight. Pagac was suspended for the team's next game at Wisconsin. Pagac pleaded innocent. In December, before the team's national championship game against Miami in the Fiesta Bowl, Pagac was acquitted in a jury trial.
Aug. 17, 2002_Defensive lineman Quinn Pitcock is charged with underage drinking in his hometown of Piqua. He is suspended from the team for the three weeks of preseason workouts, then worked out with the team and is not held out of any games. He pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct.
Aug. 24, 2002_Flanker Chris Vance, the Buckeyes' second-leading receiver from 2001, is suspended from the team before the season opener for what Tressel called a violation of team policy. Vance was with the team on the sidelines but did not play against Texas Tech. He rejoined the team for practice the following week but did not play in the second game against Kent State. Athletic director Andy Geiger later said Vance's unspecified violation took place the previous winter. Vance returned for the third game and ended up as the team's fourth-leading receiver.
July 29, 2002_Wide receiver Angelo Chattams is investigated for the alleged theft of a set of golf clubs from a sport utility vehicle in West Carrollton. Prosecutors approve but do not file a theft charge, permitting Chattams to enroll in a program for nonviolent, first-time offenders and avoid a charge. He was excused from the team to deal with the legal matter, then reinstated and played in the season-opener. He does not play again for the Buckeyes.
July 26, 2002_Police find Branden Joe, a sophomore fullback, asleep in a car on a highway ramp near campus. The police report says he refused to take a Breathalyzer test. He was suspended for the three weeks of preseason camp and the team's season opener against Texas Tech, then returns to the team although his playing time is limited by injuries.
April 27, 2002_Linebacker Marco Cooper is arrested hours after the Buckeyes' annual intrasquad scrimmage and charged with felony drug abuse and carrying a concealed weapon in his sports-utility vehicle. Cooper pleads guilty to two charges in November and is put on probation.
March 2, 2002_Tight end Redgie Arden is arrested on a charge of drunk driving in his hometown of Ironton. The redshirt freshman is found guilty and is sentenced to three days in jail and fined. Suspended indefinitely from the team, he does not participate in summer workouts before the 2002 season but is reinstated before the start of the 2002 season and played in 11 games. He is a member of the 2004 team and is listed on the two-deep roster at defensive end before he is beaten up in an August fight in Huntington, W.Va., preventing him from joining the team.
Nov. 15, 2001_Quarterback Steve Bellisari is arrested two days before the Illinois game on a drunk driving charge. Tressel suspends the Buckeyes' three-year starter indefinitely and then reinstates him to the team three days later. A senior, he practiced with the team for the Michigan game but did not play, then came off the bench to play most of the team's Outback Bowl loss to South Carolina. He later served a weekend in jail.
March 21, 2001_Cornerback Derek Ross is arrested on charges of driving without a license and providing false information to police, giving an incorrect name when pulled over for speeding. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail. He is suspended from Ohio State's 2001 spring practices, then played most of the 2001 season, leading the Big Ten in interceptions and earning second-team all-conference honors. Left team to make himself available for the NFL draft a year early.
Jan. 18, 2001_Tressel is hired.
