One of the worst scandals to ever hit the Gator football program might be reaching its merciful conclusion.
According to court documents and a report by the Tampa Bay Times, wide receiver Antonio Callaway has agreed to a pre-trial intervention. This would lead to the felonies levied against him to be dismissed.
The exact details of this pre-trial intervention are not fully known, but oftentimes the terms include staying out of further trouble for a period of time, a certain amount of community service, and paying back all stolen funds plus the court fees.
Last month, State Attorney Bill Cervone had said that seven of the nine Gators suspended in this incident could possibly qualify for a pre-trial intervention. That means six of the remaining eight- Kadeem Telfort, Richerd Desir-Jones, Jordan Scarlett, James Houston, Ventrell Miller, Keivonnis Davis, Rick Wells and Jordan Smith- could see their personal situations end without felony charges ultimately aimed against them. I’d hate to speculate as to which two won’t get the pre-trial intervention, but Smith was by far the worst offender, with five separate felony charges pinned on him, so he figures to be one of them. And Telfort, who used stolen credit cards to fund his bookstore account and buy himself food, is most likely to be the other one.
UPDATE: Desir-Jones, Scarlett, Houston, Miller, Davis and Wells were the other six players to be offered pre-trial intervention.
#Gators Callaway, Davis, Desir-Jones, Houston, Miller, Scarlett and Wells have been offered pre-trial intervention program in cc fraud case.
— Scott Carter (@GatorsScott) October 26, 2017
There’s still no indication as to when the Gators could see these guys back on the field. They’ve all been barred from team activities, so there’s still the matter of them working their way back into peak football shape before they see the field again. And there are still University conduct code stipulations that have to be met. But at the very least, it’s good to see that this case is moving forward.
