ROCHESTER, Ind. (WNDU) – A former wide receiver for the Notre Dame football team was arrested before his court hearing Tuesday morning.
Kevin Stepherson arrived at the Fulton County Courthouse in Rochester for a violation of his probation. Upon his arrival, he was arrested before stepping foot into the courtroom and taken to the Fulton County Law Enforcement Center.
This comes after multiple run-ins with the law over the last six weeks.
Stepherson was originally arrested for possession of marijuana in August of 2016 when he and four other teammates were pulled over in Fulton County. In March, Stepherson entered a plea to have his charges removed as long as he could stay out of trouble for one year. In June, the court accepted that plea for what’s known as a conditional discharge.
But the former Irish wide receiver, who was kicked off the football team earlier this month, has not stayed out of trouble.
On December 14th, Stepherson was pulled over in Marshall County. He was later charged with possession of marijuana, speeding, and no valid driver’s license. The next day, he was arrested for shoplifting a pair a pair of sweatpants from Macy’s at the University Park Mall in Mishawaka. He was picked up walking out of the store wearing an stolen $59 pair of Nautica sweatpants he allegedly did not purchase. He’s been charged with conversion, a class A misdemeanor from this incident. Both of those incidents were first reported by WNDU.
Then on Friday, Stepherson was arrested again for possession of marijuana, this time in Whitley County.
Fulton County prosecutors first filed a petition to revoke Stepherson’s plea deal for conditional discharge on December 29th and have amended that petition a few times since then; including as recently as Monday, when they filed an amended two petition to terminate his conditional discharge.
Stepherson cannot post bond and will remain behind bars for at least a week while he awaits his next hearing on Tuesday, February 6.
A judge will decide on one of three options: continue Stepherson on the conditional discharge program, put him on probation, or terminate his conditional discharge and sentence him for time behind bars.
If sentenced, Stepherson could face up to a 180-day sentence and serve up to half of that time. Possession of marijuana is a Class B misdemeanor.
He still faces charges for possession of marijuana in Marshall and Whitley counties as well as the theft charge out of St. Joseph County.
Despite the August arrest last year, Stepherson did not sit out a single game in 2016. He finished 2nd on the team in receiving.
While it was never acknowledged by Notre Dame, Stepherson was suspended for the first four games of 2017 for what sources tell NewsCenter 16 was a violation of team rules. He eventually returned to action and became one of Notre Dame’s most reliable wide receivers, catching a team high five touchdowns during the most recent football season. Stepherson started three games, catching 19 total passes for 359 yards.