Ian J. Kessel (seen here in a Lee County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office booking photograph, was arrested by Haverhill Police on drug charges July 1.)

Local authorities arrested former Haverhill High football player Ian J. Kessel on drug possession charges Sunday, according to a Haverhill Police arrest log.

Taken into custody just before 3 p.m. on River Street by Officer Jordan Bergevine, Kessel, who now lives in Lawrence, was charged with possession of a class E narcotic.

The 21-year-old was expected to be arraigned in Haverhill District Court (sitting in Newburyport) on Monday.

Sunday’s arrest is the latest in Kessel’s list of past criminal charges.

In June 2017, Kessel was arrested in Florida’s Lee County for marijuana possession and resisting an officer. At the time, Kessel faced a drug-related armed robbery case in Massachusetts but was allowed by the District Attorney’s Office to travel.

Kessel and co-defendant Dalvin F. Andino, along with an unidentified 17-year-old juvenile, were charged with armed robbery in January 2016 during, what Haverhill police said, was a “drug deal gone bad” at Bradford’s Forest Acres apartment complex.

As the case unfolded, Haverhill Police were watching Kessel’s 12 Lexington Ave. home with the department’s conspicuous, white Navistar International truck, labeled as a “video surveillance unit.”

Following a grand jury indictment, Kessel was freed in September 2017 after an apparent evidence mix-up, officials said.

“The charge against them alleged stealing money when the allegation is that they had stolen marijuana,” Carrie Kimball Monahan, spokesperson for Essex County District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett, told WHAV at the time.

Kessel’s Boston-based attorney Hank Brennan, who famously defended James “Whitey” Bulger in 2013, helped the former Hillie football star clear his name by flagging the evidence as improperly listed.

After 9:33am on Monday July 16th, 2018 this article available to paying WHAV members only.

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