CMU: Deon Butler remains indefinitely suspended from football team after arrest
Sophomore receiver Deon Butler remains indefinitely suspended from the Central Michigan football program after being arrested Monday.
In a statement issued Monday, the CMU athletics department acknowledged Butler's arrest, but said his status on the team has not changed.
"The Department of Athletics, while continuing to cooperate fully with local authorities, is in the process of gathering all factual information regarding the situation," the release said. "Butler remains suspended indefinitely from the football program."
Butler, of Detroit, was arrested by CMU Police Monday and charged with one count of receiving and concealing stolen property estimated to be worth between $200 and $1000. He was jailed at the Isabella County Trial Court, arraigned and released on a $2,000 personal recognizance bond.
Butler's arrest comes on the heels of a police investigation into a stolen cell phone on campus last month. Freshman receiver Danel Harris, one of three CMU football players arrested Tuesday, has been charged with one count of felony larceny from a vehicle.
Police were then led to a terrace-level dorm room in Celani Residence Hall, where is it alleged sophomores Joe Sawicki and Austin White were growing and selling psilocybin, a form of hallucinogenic mushrooms.
Sawicki, a tight end from Illinois, was arrested Tuesday and charged with three counts: manufacturing and delivering narcotics, possession of narcotics and maintaining a drug house. White, a running back from Livonia, turned himself into police Wednesday and was charged with the same three-county felony. Both men, along with Harris, were released from the football program last week.
Butler, a graduate graduate of Inkster High School, was a part of head coach Dan Enos' 2010 recruiting class. He redshirted his freshman season and played 12 games in the 2011 season, recording 6 receptions for 49 yards.
Butler, Sawicki and White are listed in the CMU directory as living in the same dorm room.
All four players, and sophomore defensive back Kevin King, were indefinitely suspended following CMU's April 14 spring game. King has not been charged with a crime by police and remains suspended by the program.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in Central Michigan Life.