NFL's Reid acquitted of gun charge, pleads guilty on pot count

VIRGINIA BEACH

Wearing a pinstriped suit and a stern disposition, a two-time Super Bowl champion admitted in Circuit Court on Wednesday to possessing marijuana with intent to distribute.

Then Dexter Reid took his chances on a concealed weapon violation.

After a brief trial, Reid, a Norfolk native who played three years in the National Football League, was acquitted on the misdemeanor charge that triggered his troubles. Circuit Judge H. Thomas Padrick Jr. said he was not convinced that Reid had tried to hide a handgun from police who stopped his sport utility vehicle in March.

A glimpse of the gun spurred a search of the SUV, during which police discovered more than 3 ounces of marijuana and a digital scale.

Reid, 26, earned Super Bowl rings as a safety and special teams player with the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts. He was released by the Colts after last year's championship and did not play in the NFL this season.

Reid faces as much as 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to the drug charge and the likelihood that his football career is over.

In an interview with The Virginian-Pilot last year, sports agent Ron Del Duca said that no matter the outcome of Reid's case, his multiple brushes with the law have probably sealed his fate in a league that has taken a tougher approach to players who land in trouble.

Reid was charged in Mecklenburg County with carrying a concealed weapon 10 days before he was arrested in Virginia Beach, but that charge was later dismissed. In September, the former Granby High and University of North Carolina star was charged with two counts of illegal weapons possession in Chesapeake.

Reid had given Chesapeake police permission to move his 2000 Cadillac sedan from a handicapped space at a restaurant to avoid more fines.

While in the car, police noticed a handgun on the front passenger seat, and they found a loaded semiautomatic pistol in the trunk.

Reid is scheduled to appear Feb. 13 in Chesapeake General District Court for a preliminary hearing on those charges.

The case in Virginia Beach began March 25 when police stopped Reid's 2004 GMC Yukon in a nightclub parking lot near Dam Neck Road and General Booth Boulevard.

Reid was driving erratically, and police reportedly suspected he was drunk. Reid passed field sobriety tests and blamed his erratic driving on text messaging while at the wheel.

After they found the handgun, Reid gave police permission to search the SUV. They found a loaded .45-caliber magazine, boxes of ammunition, a scale and 3.2 ounces of marijuana packaged in several small plastic containers.

Reid told authorities the drugs were for his own use. An officer testified at Reid's preliminary hearing that such individual packaging was not consistent with personal use.

Reid will be sentenced April 22.

Duane Bourne, (757) 222-5150, duane.bourne@pilotonline.com