In today’s day and age, petty marijuana arrests feel more like a witch hunt, rather than a productive usage of a police officer’s time and resources. With all that we know about cannabis today, jail time for marijuana possession just seems superfluous.
However, this hasn’t deterred authorities from giving it the old college try—literally.
Take, for example, the recent probe of Florida State Seminoles quarterback, Deondre Francois, a redshirt junior who has been the subject of a two-month investigation, after police were tipped off that the signal-caller was dealing cannabis from his apartment.
Unsurprisingly, the Florida State quarterback avoids jail for marijuana possession, after the search proved to be mostly fruitless.
Deondre Francois Avoids Jail Time
According to a search warrant obtained by the Orlando Sentinel, the entire ordeal started back in February when an anonymous source told police that Francois had been peddling weed out of a large paper bag in his apartment.
Following the anonymous tip, police proceeded to search the quarterback’s garbage on four different occasions between February and April. The officers were able to scrounge up plastic baggies with cannabis residue and dutch guts, which led to the police obtaining the search warrant.
However, when the police finally exercised the warrant last Thursday, they were unable to prove Francois had been selling marijuana. All they managed to find were 17 grams of cannabis, a Bob Marley grinder, a drug test cup, vials of pain medication and an FSU student ID card for teammate Zaquandre White.
When questioned about the cannabis, Francois simply claimed it had belonged to his girlfriend, Diamond Lindsey.
While Francois will not be required to serve jail time, he has been sentenced to community service and he is required to avoid any legal trouble for the next year, along with a$100 fine.
Final Hit: Florida State Quarterback Avoids Jail For Marijuana Possession
Although a petty marijuana crime certainly doesn’t warrant a two and a half month investigation, perhaps it’s Francois’ past which was to be a cause for concern.
In January, Francois was investigated on domestic abuse charges, stemming from accusations from the aforementioned Linsdey.
According to Lindsey, who was pregnant at the time, Francois was upset that she had been talking to another man. Per Lindsey’s report, Francois broke a door, threw her to the ground and attempted to drag her out of the house. However, the quarterback was never charged for the incident, and the two remain together.
Despite the quarterback’s transgressions, it appears Francois will remain a part of the FSU program moving forward.
“He’s still with our football team,” Taggart said to the New York Post. “ … We talked about his responsibility as a student-athlete here, and he understands my expectations and what I’m looking for, especially when it comes to our quarterback.”
