HOUSTON (AP) - A judge denied bond for troubled Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Johnny Jolly on Wednesday following his latest drug arrest in Houston.
The decision means Jolly will remain jailed until at least his next court appearance on April 20. He did not 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.
After the hearing, prosecutor Todd Keagle said Jolly’s arrest voided a probation agreement the defensive 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.
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.
Moore said he will make another attempt to have Jolly released on bond, which prosecutors are against.
At the time of his arrest, Jolly had an agreement with the Harris District Attorney’s Office in which he had been given 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 will now be facing 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 Jolly had been training as part of his efforts to get reinstated in the NFL. He did not know how this most recent arrest would affect that.
Brian Overstreet, Jolly’s agent, did not immediately return a telephone call on 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.
The 6-foot-3, 325-pound 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.
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