Feb 17, 2009
drug warrior, law enforcement, Michael Phelps
Two weeks and eight arrests after a photo of Michael Phelps smoking from a bong made headlines, Richland County, S.C., Sheriff Leon Lott has called off the criminal investigation of the Olympic champion.
Unlike Phelps, who has expressed regret for the entire incident, Lott was unrepentant about wasting the county's time and resources on a case that at most would have led to charges of possession of a pinch of marijuana. He also didn't apologize for the armed raids and arrests of eight college kids whom he hoped he might pressure into verifying whether the contents of Phelps' bong might have been marijuana.
He did say he hoped Phelps had learned something from all this. I suppose it's too much to hope that Lott might actually learn something here too.