Posted on 02/02/2009 9:49:37 PM PST by Between the Lines
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says he will charge Michael Phelps with a crime if he determines the Olympics hero smoked marijuana in Richland County.
Phelps, who set a record with eight gold medals in the 2008 Summer Olympics, was photographed smoking a marijuana pipe at a November party in Columbia.
The picture was published in the British newspaper News of the World. Phelps apologized Sunday, calling his behavior “inappropriate.”
“This case is no different than any other case,” Lott said Monday. “This one might be a lot easier since we have photographs of someone using drugs and a partial confession. It’s a relatively easy case once we can determine where the crime occurred.”
Possession of marijuana is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail or a $570 fine, plus court costs.
But Lott seems to be the only person talking about making a case against Phelps. Both the University of South Carolina and Columbia Police Departments said they would not pursue charges.
It was unclear Monday where the party took place, including whether it was on campus.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Phelps’ sponsors — from apparel company Speedo to luxury Swiss watchmaker Omega — issued statements calling the incident a “nonissue.” The International Olympic Committee accepted his apology.
“We have no reason to doubt his sincerity and his commitment to continue to act as a role model,” the IOC said in a statement.
At the University of South Carolina, where Phelps was visiting when the picture was taken, the mood was largely “who cares?”
“It’s not a surprise,” said India Jones, a sophomore biology major. “He’s young, and he is human. They’ll probably let him off easy because he owned up to it.”
This isn’t the first time Phelps has been in trouble following a gold medal performance. In 2004, fresh off his wins in the Athens Olympics, he pleaded guilty to drunk driving in Maryland.
Forgiveness of Phelps could be attributed to how he handled both situations — admitting up front he did it and apologizing, said Matt Brown, associate professor for sport and entertainment management at the University of South Carolina.
“America is a forgiving society, and he came out and apologized immediately,” Brown said. “I think as long as we don’t see more pictures coming out and more things coming out that he’s been doing this consistently, he’ll be OK.”
It also helps that many see Phelps as a nice guy. When he was in Columbia, he took time to speak to a class on sports’ role in society.
“It was amazing how gracious and how humble and just how helpful he tried to be,” said Sid Kenyon, a South Carolina adjunct professor who taught the class. “I can’t tell you how impressed I was with his mannerism and just how willing he was to help and do anything that we asked him.”
The Phelps story broke not in a sports magazine, but in a celebrity newspaper. Sports and entertainment journalism have been merging for years, Brown said, never more so than in the Olympics, which attracts a wider audience — including the kind of people who watch celebrity news on “Entertainment Tonight.”
“It becomes much more of an entertainment event than a sports event,” he said.
“This case is no different than any other case,” Lott said Monday. “This one might be a lot easier since we have photographs of someone using drugs and a partial confession. It’s a relatively easy case once we can determine where the crime occurred.”
And thus I [Lott] can be a hero on the cheap instead of doing something functional.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says he will charge Michael Phelps with a crime if he determines the Olympics hero smoked marijuana ...
Mr. associate professor who thinks America is a forgiving country, meet Mr. Sheriff.
Look for one Mr. Phelps to be some “community service” for the U.S. Gooberment soon.....
And so it goes...on and on.....
Before this admin is done with its grand plans, I suspect 75% of citizens will be doing “community service”...and maybe 10 or 15% will be in re-education camps.
Yep. A sleazeball sheriff looking for his 15 minutes of fame.
I didn’t think the guy in the photo looked like Phelps.
I wonder how much this photo has cost Phelps. It wouldn’t surprise me if it were in the tens of millions of dollars.
Police State.
Another clear case of Pot effecting a persons performance....
I bet he would have gotten 50 medals if he wasnt a pothead...
/sarc
Good luck proving Phelps actually smoked the pot. What an insane statement.
Tony Rhome said this morning on his radio show...”what is Michael Phelps doing with his grill in a bong?”
Heck, we had a guy set his apartment on fire with his marijuana grow light. Usually, I just ignored minor amounts of drugs when working structure fires, although it's a little touchy, as we're really supposed to report illegal activities we come across in the line of duty. With the marijuana grow light, it was a little tough to have plausible deniability, as the drug paraphernalia started the fire. So I tossed it to an investigator. He said, "I don't care. The fire was accidental." He called PD and they laughed and said, "We don't want him." So, we made him pour out his marijuana and spread it around, told him never to be setting his apartment on fire with marijuana grow lights again and called it a day.
That someone would actually do an investigation of a guy hitting a bong at a party tells me they've got WAY too much time on their hands.
Insane..and what’s the fine these days, $30?
Seriously, $30 if he is lucky, LOL.
The Richland County Sheriff wants his 5 min of fame.
Six hours a day in all that chlorine I am surprised Green Piece didn't try to have him outlawed as a walking toxic waste site!
Now that he smokes weed he should be good with the enviros...natural and all>
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.