Callaway seeks dismissal of pot charges

The lawyer for Cleveland Browns rookie wide receiver Antonio Callaway said Thursday he is working to get charges of marijuana possession against his client dropped.

"We contest that he possessed it,'' attorney Kevin Spellacy told cleveland.com. "We believe it was something that was left in his car it was shipped up from Florida. Other people had access who had used his car."

A hearing on the matter had been set for 8:30 a.m. Thursday, but Spellacy instead faxed his request for a continuance. The hearing was rescheduled for Sept. 20 in Strongsville (Ohio) Mayor's Court.

Callaway was cited for marijuana possession and driving with a suspended license early Aug. 5, according to a police report.

Per the Strongsville (Ohio) report, Callaway was stopped at 2:59 a.m. that day after he was seen failing to yield to oncoming traffic. The officer found his driver's license to be suspended and "a small amount" of marijuana was found under the driver's seat. Deputy Chief John Janowski said the latter offense was regarded as a minor misdemeanor based on the amount Callaway possessed.

Spellacy said he has provided police with a receipt for the shipment of the car.

"The car was delivered approximately three days before he was stopped," he said. "The amount of marijuana was .05 grams. It's basically smaller than a dime, and it was under the seat."

Spellacy said that "you wouldn't know it was there unless you crawled on the floor and looked under the seat with a flashlight. That's how small it was."

As for the charge of driving with the suspended license, Spellacy said that's been taken care of.

"His license is valid,'' Spellacy said. "He had an outstanding ticket that had to be paid. He had actually paid the ticket, but the paperwork had not been sent to the Department of Motor Vehicles. They kind of cross in the mail so to speak. The infraction was taken care of, but the paperwork hadn't caught up.''

Still, the hearing is important because Callaway, 21, is in Stage 1 of the NFL's substance abuse program because of his dilute urine specimen at the NFL combine in March, according to cleveland.com. He later admitted to smoking marijuana before the combine.

Because of that, he is subject to random drug testing. Any violations in the first 90 days of Stage 1 could lead him to lose 3/17th of his $480,000 base salary or being sent to the stricter Stage 2 of the program.

The Browns selected Callaway, who attended Florida, in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft in April.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)