Four Penn State Players Charged with Marijuana Possession

The Centre Daily Times reported on Monday that four Penn State football players are facing marijuana possession charges after an incident last month at their apartment.

Redshirt freshmen Lance Dixon, Daequan Hardy and Tank Smith as well as true freshman Joseph Johnson III were all charged.

According to the report, the Nittany Lions athletic department is aware of the charges that the quartet faces.

“These alleged actions do not reflect the values and standards of our program and will be addressed,” a spokesperson wrote in a statement to the Centre Daily Times. “We will not comment any further as this is an ongoing legal matter.”

Officers reported picking up the scent of marijuana coming from the apartment before conducting the search.

An officer discovered a bag of marijuana in Dixon’s room as well as a “partially smoked marijuana joint” in Hardy’s room. In Smith’s and Johnson’s respective rooms, police found three and two bags of marijuana, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed Monday.

Authorities added that each test of the marijuana returned a “presumptive positive result.” Dixon and Johnson were charged with one misdemeanor count of possessing a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Hardy also received a misdemeanor charge of possession of a small amount of marijuana and one summary count of carrying a false identification.

This comes after a previous incident in which Devyn Ford, Caeden Wallace and Sal Wormley were cited for possession of marijuana and LSD and freshman Brandon Taylor was kicked off the team for a violation of team rules.