Jolly denied bond after second drug-related arrest

Published on March 30, 2011 by AP News     

A judge denied bond for Johnny Jolly on Wednesday after the Green Bay Packers defensive lineman’s latest drug arrest.

The decision means Jolly will remain jailed until at least his next court appearance on April 20. He didn’t appear in court during the brief hearing.

Jolly was arrested Friday morning and has been charged with possession of over 400 grams of a controlled substance. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Police say after pulling over Jolly’s vehicle during a traffic stop, officers found a bottle containing 600 grams of codeine under the passenger’s seat and another bottle containing an unidentified substance in the driver’s side door.

“At this point, he’s maintaining his innocence,” said Carl Moore, Jolly’s attorney.

After the hearing, prosecutor Todd Keagle said Jolly’s arrest voided a probation agreement the lineman had with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to settle a 2008 drug charge. It was the earlier charge that led to his suspension by the NFL without pay for all of last season for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy.

The agreement with the district attorney’s office gave Jolly pretrial diversion, a form of probation. Under that agreement, the 2008 drug charge against him would have been dismissed by August if he didn’t break the law. Part of the sentence was 160 hours of community service, which included 10 speaking engagements where he was supposed to talk to children and others about the dangers of drug use.

“His pretrial diversion is being voided because Mr. Jolly did not adhere to the terms of his contract, in our opinion,” Keagle said.

The end of the agreement means Jolly now will face two charges in court: the new one and the 2008 charge of possessing at least 200 grams of codeine, which carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years, Keagle said.

Moore said he will make another attempt to have Jolly released on bond, which prosecutors oppose.

Moore also said Jolly had been training as part of his efforts to be reinstated by the NFL. He didn’t know how this most recent arrest would affect that.

Brian Overstreet, Jolly’s agent, didn’t immediately return a telephone call Wednesday.

A Packers spokesman declined to comment on Jolly’s situation.

Jolly attended high school in Houston and played for Texas A&M University. He was selected by the Packers in the sixth round of the 2006 NFL Draft.

Jolly, who lives in a Houston suburb, started all 16 games for Green Bay in 2008 and ’09. Without him, the Packers won the Super Bowl last season.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

Tags: Codeine, Controlled Substance, County District Attorney, Court Appearance, Defensive Lineman, Drug Charge, Friday Morning, Green Bay Packers, Harris County District Attorney, Keagle, Life In Prison, Pretrial Diversion, Prison Sentence, Probation, prosecutor, Prosecutors, Speaking Engagements, Substance Abuse Policy, Traffic Stop, Unidentified Substance