Former LSU football standouts arrested on drug charges

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Four former LSU football players were arrested Thursday on drug-related charges, officials said.

The Baton Rouge Police Department said Jordan Jefferson, Tyrann Mathieu, Karnell Hatcher, and Derrick Bryant were all charged with marijuana-related offenses.

Mathieu and Jefferson were charged with simple possession of marijuana, Hatcher was charged with simple possession of marijuana (second offense) and Bryant was charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

All four men were booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. Booking records showed Bryant's bond was set at $9,000, Hatcher's was $3,500, while bond for Jefferson and Mathieu was $500 each.

According to jail officials, Mathieu and Bryant had bonded out by early Friday morning. Jordan Jefferson bonded out around 6 a.m.

Jefferson is a former LSU quarterback who started the BCS National Championship Game in January 2012.

Mathieu, a junior defensive back widely known as the "Honey Badger," was removed from the LSU football team earlier this year after what sources said was multiple failed drug tests. He is currently enrolled at LSU and was hoping to return to the team next season. Mathieu was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy in 2011.

Both Hatcher and Bryant were defensive backs for LSU.

Officers were dispatched to an apartment at 262 West State in Baton Rouge around 3:30 p.m. in reference to a complaint about a man trying to force his way into the complex through a security gate, police said.

According to police news release:  The man was confronted by a maintenance worker and words were exchanged. Before officers arrived, the man had been let into the complex by a resident and was seen going into an apartment. When officers went to the apartment and knocked on the door, it was answered by the resident, Tyrann Mathieu, age 20, police said. 

"Officers immediately smelled a strong odor of marijuana and obtained consent from Mathieu to search the apartment," a police news release said. "Inside, they found three other men, including the one who had allegedly tried to force his way through the gate. He was identified as Jordan Jefferson," police said. Police said the other two men were identified as Bryant and Hatcher.

Police said a search of the apartment found a marijuana grinder, digital scale and 10 bags of high grade marijuana. Seven of the bags were found inside Bryant's book sack, police said. All four men were taken into custody and arrested, police said.

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