Guilty plea forthcoming for Gators WR Hammond

By Adam Silverstein
July 9, 2010

Florida Gators redshirt sophomore wide receiver Frankie Hammond, Jr. will plead guilty to driving under the influence after being arrested on June 13, according to Jeremy Fowler of the Orlando Sentinel, who spoke with Hammond’s attorney, Huntley Johnson.

Johnson believes Hammond will serve a minimum sentence as he is a first-time offender and has admitted to his mistakes.

“I think [our plea] will be accepted,” Johnson told the Sentinel. “He’ll get the same treatment as somebody else [former defensive end Carlos Dunlap]. He’s accepting responsibility, and he’s going to be better for it.”

Dunlap got six months of probation and 50 hours of community service after pleading guilty to the same offense in January.

Hammond, after immediately being suspended from all team activities by University of Florida administration, returned to working out with the team this week. He was arrested for DUI and possession of alcohol by a minor just under a month ago.

As OGGOA exclusively reported on June 15, the Gators adopted an “if one falls, all fall” mentality that was taught in practical application immediately after an impassioned meeting the team held following Hammond’s arrest.

He is not expected to receive more than a one or two-game suspension.

From OGGOA‘s original story on Hammond’s arrest:

Hammond was allegedly “speeding, swerving and driving” with two open 750-ml bottles of Crown Royal whiskey in his car (one in the back seat, one in the trunk). He was traveling faster than 45 miles per hour on Gale Lemerand Drive at 2:09 a.m.; [UF] campus is a 20-mph zone.

The police report described Hammond as “uncoordinated” with “glassy” eyes and slurred speech. He failed his on-site sobriety tests and registered breath samples of more than double the legal limit (.08) at .188 and .191.

2 Comments

  1. John C says:

    I’m glad he seems to realize his mistake. I am, however, getting tired of these guys hurting our reputation. You know, if you are one of the fortunate few who get to play for UF, you should know better than to do things like this and it may come down to Meyer having to start dismissing people. You hate to just take away some kids future, but, they need to learn that this is UF, not USC! The only thing, some other school will pick him right up!

  2. O-town Gator says:

    Maybe now our guys will learn not to take anything for granted anymore; doing something really stupid could cost any of them a spot on the team, depending on the severity of the infraction – and they need to realize this. It’s time for Hammond and the rest of them to start growing up. It sucks that the innocent now must suffer on account of the guilty, but at this juncture Coach Meyer has no other choice. These conduct issues have to stop.

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