According to a report from the Orlando Sentinel, Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois spent the last two months under surveillance by the Tallahassee police department because someone convinced them that he was selling weed.
After a tipster went to the Tallahassee Police Department with their theory in February, the cops opened a two-month investigation, which concluded when they searched Francois’s apartment on Thursday while his girlfriend was there with him.
Prior to the search, the police department also monitored Francois’s apartment and searched his trash four times. In those efforts, they discovered some bags that used to have weed in them and blunt guts. This is all pretty embarrassing:
The anonymous male tipster, who said he was inside Francois’s apartment in late February, told TPD he saw a large paper grocery-type bag full of cannabis, estimated at about two pounds, present during a drug-related crime.
The tip led to an investigation in which TPD collected and examined the contents of Francois’ curbside garbage on four separate occasions.
But when TPD concluded its investigation of Francois last Thursday, an executed search warrant conducted at his apartment yielded just 17 grams of marijuana among other items.
The cops apparently thought Francois was moving pounds of weed, but all they caught him and his girlfriend with was 17 grams, or just over half an ounce, which is a reasonable amount of weed for two individuals to have! In states where weed is legal, the limit for citizens to carry is normally a full ounce per person.
Francois is currently working his way back from a patellar tendon tear suffered against Alabama last season. He’s not expected to play in the spring game this year, but should be with the team this summer and ready by the fall. Police were called to his apartment earlier this year in response to a domestic violence call, but the case was later dropped.
Head coach Willie Taggart confirmed after the spring game that Francois is still on the team. He added they the two spoke about the latest incident, telling reporters he encouraged him to just hang around teammates from now on.
“…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.”
“…He’s got to be smart about who he’s around and what he’s around, and make good decisions,” Taggart said. “I advise him to just make sure he’s around his teammates all the time.”
According to the Sentinel, after the cops figured out they had wasted their time, they went to Francois and “offered the chance to participate in a pre-trial diversion program after the search.” Now, Francois has to do community service and “avoid any criminal activity for a period of anywhere from three months to a year” and pay $100 to the state’s attorney office, and after all that, he could still be required to join a substance abuse program.
