Arrests Made In Phelps Case

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COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Authorities in the South Carolina county where Michael Phelps was photographed smoking from a marijuana pipe have been arresting people as they seek to make a case against the superstar swimmer, lawyers for two arrested people said Thursday.
Attorneys Joseph McCulloch and Dick Harpootlian told The Associated Press they each represent a client charged with possession of marijuana who were questioned about the party Phelps attended near the University of South Carolina campus in November.
The lawyers said the two clients were renters at the house where the party apparently took place. Harpootlian said his client was at the party, but didn't see Phelps smoke marijuana, while McCulloch said his client wasn't there. The two have since moved and were arrested after police executed a search warrant at their new home and accused them of having a small amount of marijuana there.
"After they arrested him, they didn't ask him, 'Where did you get the marijuana?' or 'Who sold it to you?' Almost all the questions they asked him were about Michael Phelps," Harpootlian said.
The lawyers would not name their clients, who each face up to 30 days in jail and a $200 fine if convicted on the pending charges.
The Richland County Sheriff's Department would not comment on the lawyers' remarks.
"As soon as we're ready to release information on this case, we will [comment], and we're still in the middle of this investigation," Lt. Chris Cowan said.
After the photo was published Feb. 1, Sheriff Leon Lott said his office would investigate and possibly charge Phelps, though officials have not specified what the offense might be.
Phelps, 23, and his representatives have not disputed the photo's accuracy. Phelps has issued a public apology, acknowledging "regrettable" behavior and "bad judgment" after the photo appeared. USA Swimming has suspended Phelps for three months and the Kellogg Co. has cut ties with him, although other sponsors are sticking with the swimmer.
McCulloch, who said his client was out of town at the time, doubted that anything his client told authorities would assist them in the case against Phelps.
"Our clients answered questions but I don't know that their information would be helpful to law enforcement," McCulloch said. "It seems to me that Richland County has a host of its own crime problems much more serious than a kid featured in a photograph with a bong in his hand."
Lott has said Phelps should not get a break because of his fame. Harpootlian said that he believes police are being overzealous.
"I find it amazing the justification is they don't want to treat him any differently just because he is a celebrity, and he is being treated far differently than any other Joe Blow who might have smoked marijuana four or five months ago."
Under South Carolina law, possession of one ounce or less of marijuana is a misdemeanor that carries a fine up to $200 and 30 days in jail for the first offense. Possession of drug paraphernalia is a $500 fine.
Columbia television station WIS-TV was first to report earlier this week that eight arrests related to the party had been made, but did not name a source. McCulloch said college students and lawyers have told him that about eight arrests have been made.
However, although the Richland County Sheriff's Department did execute search warrants last weekend on a couple locations at the University of South Carolina, the charges the eight people face are from last weekend and not from the November incident involving Phelps. A source told ESPN that those charged were mostly college students.
Lott has made fighting drug crimes a central plank of his career. He rose from patrol officer to captain of the narcotics division in the early 1990s. He was first elected sheriff in 1996 and has held the post since.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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And if the Road Warrior says it, it must be true..
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What a joke this has become....the guy was just tokin some herb...no big deal....JMO
 

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Shouldn't the cops spend their time going after real criminals not kids getting high......give me a break
 

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I heard the donut shop is closed for repairs in Columbia... Either way, Columbia cops are very brave hunting down those nasty bong smokers...
 
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However, although the Richland County Sheriff's Department did execute search warrants last weekend on a couple locations at the University of South Carolina, the charges the eight people face are from last weekend and not from the November incident involving Phelps. A source told ESPN that those charged were mostly college students.
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That is probably the most important part of the entire article. Names of people involved in the party back in November were dropped, and the police simply executed raids of some of those people to try to bust them for possession. Simple as that..95% chance Phelps never gets charged.

At any rate, the BS the local authorities down there are doing is just ridiculous. Obviously trying to tear down an emerging American icon, while ignoring the real crime. :>(
 

Honey Badger Don't Give A Shit
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They can't convict more than one person of possession unless each confesses ownership of one or more portions of the "tiny amount found".

Any defense attorney with more than five seconds of experience should be able to beat any of the charges unless one or both of the guys charged opened their mouths and acknowledged possession of the found pot.
 

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Fucking ridiculous.

I agree .... you can not expect these *** ass DA's to go after real criminals and people doing very bad stuff... NO way they do not have the balls to go after really bad peeps
 

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Don't Be Like Mike

• If the team scores with 4:20 -- a number that's synonymous with pot culture -- on the clock in any period, one fan will win a season ticket for the following season.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/pu...tokes-the-line-with-Michael-Ph?urn=nhl,140741




Like other minor league teams, the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals have promoted their product by any means necessary. When owner Harris Turer took over the franchise nearly four years ago, for example, he declared the team needed a jock-strap night called "Admirals Supporter Night."



The team handed out 1,500 athletic supporters to fans. "Someone put a logo on the front of it and wrote, ‘We're nuts about Admirals Hockey,'" recalled Charlie Larson, director of communications for the Admirals, the minor league affiliate of the Nashville Predators.


There have been the strange jerseys, like the one that looked like a picnic tablecloth. There was "Hairiest Back Night," followed by "Biggest Beer Belly Night," in which some of Wisconsin's manliest men doffed their shirts on the ice for prizes. "It was pretty disgusting, but it worked out pretty well," said Larson.


On Thursday night, Feb. 19, the Admirals will set the bar a little ... uh, higher: a night dedicated to the Michael Phelps marijuana scandal. For the Admirals, it's been a delicate balancing act between exploiting the comedy in the scandal and avoiding its controversy.


"Don't Be Like Mike" Night is, of course, inspired by a photo of the Olympic champion swimmer using a bong at a party in South Carolina that was published in a British newspaper. The media firestorm over the image resulted in Phelps being suspended by USA Swimming and dropped by Kellogg's as a spokesman.



To many, the situation isn't exactly a laughing matter, seeing as how Phelps was a hero to many young athletes. That was the challenge for the Admirals -- a team that counts Milwaukee Brewers assistant GM Gord Ash and pitcher Ben Sheets among its minority owners -- in attempting to mine some humor from the scandal.

"Every time you do something, you're going to irritate someone no matter what you do," said Larson. "But this is a tongue-in-cheek promotion, and people know it."


Here's what the team has planned for "Don't Be Like Mike" Night against the Rockford IceHogs, an affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks:
• All fans who are graduates of a DARE program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) can get into the game for just $2 by bringing their DARE graduation certificate to the Admirals' office or the Bradley Center box office.



• Anyone with the name Michael, Phelps, Mary Jane, Cheech, Chong, Weed (Wied) or anyone who has won an Olympic Gold Medal can also get their ticket for only $2.


• The team is giving away a weed wacker from National Ace Hardware, signed by the Admirals.


• If the team scores with 4:20 -- a number that's synonymous with pot culture -- on the clock in any period, one fan will win a season ticket for the following season.



• The team is providing a document shredder outside of section 225 for fans to destroy their own incriminating, Phelps-like photos.
"It's a fine line that you walk," Larson said. "One of the ideas that was bandied about was giving away little bags of Doritos to the first thousand people. But you can't be promoting drug use at all."


One rejected idea had the team holding the promotion on April 20 (4/20), but that's during the postseason. Another consideration was doing some sort of gimmick with the infamous glass tube in the Phelps photo.


"In Milwaukee, there's this commercial that runs on radio stations for an adult book store. And they always are advertising specials on their pipes and other smoking material. And at the ad says, 'Pipe products are for tobacco use only; no other uses intended or implied,'" Larson said. "But in the end, it just wouldn't work."


The team has attempted to balance its humorous take on the controversy with an anti-drug message -- even if that message has a touch of whimsy. Said Admirals President Jon Greenberg in a release: "I, along with Nancy Reagan, want to encourage people to not do drugs. As an organization the Milwaukee Admirals don't condone or encourage the use of illegal drugs, including, but not limited to marijuana, or anabolic steroids for that matter."
Larson and the team are confident they've handled the scandal appropriately. "We figured that if we did it the right way, we'd be fine. With the anti-drug theme, with the D.A.R.E. kids getting in for free and whatnot," he said.





So fans will roll into the joint for "Don't Be Like Mike" Night for the Admirals various, humorous takes on the matter -- even if there were possibilities left unexplored.





Like playing in jerseys made of hemp, for example.
"That's not a bad idea. But we'd have to be a little quicker on the turnaround," said Larson.
True. But they could always take these old duds out of mothballs from the 2000-01 season, courtesy of Sidearm Delivery:
 

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"One of the ideas that was bandied about was giving away little bags of Doritos to the first thousand people. But you can't be promoting drug use at all."

Doritos promotes drug use? :lol:
 

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"The union stands by its statement from earlier in the week that nothing improper occurred," Bouris said regarding A-Roid

Does not apply rule....... ##)
 

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