Initially, Ravens receiver Deonte Thompson faced felony drug charges. In late February, the felony became a misdemeanor.
The misdemeanor has now become a “sorry about that, go about your business.”
According to Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com, the case against Thompson was dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
Police arrested Thompson on February 21 in Florida with two other men. Thompson had a duffel bag with marijuana in it. Thompson said the marijuana in his duffel bag wasn’t his marijuana. The other two men said it was theirs.
And that’s all it takes to get prosecutors to realize that the concept of “reasonable doubt” will be satisfied.
Of course, that may not be the end of Thompson’s issues. Behavior can result in a player landing in the NFL’s substance-abuse program. The specific behavior of having a duffel bag with someone else’s marijuana in it could be enough to trigger a full evaluation under the substance-abuse policy and periodic, unannounced testing of Thompson.
Meanwhile, given that the standard NFL penalty for marijuana possession is a one-game suspension and in light of the fact that Thompson will make $33,529.41 per game in 2014, Thompson should at least buy the other two guys their own duffel bags.