ATHENS - Georgia linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson pled guilty to reckless driving in Athens-Clarke County Municipal Court on Monday. As part of a plea agreement, a racing charge was dismissed.
Both charges were misdemeanors and stemmed from an arrest warrant issued in February. University of Georgia police charged Dumas-Johnson with racing and reckless driving for an incident on the night of Jan. 10, one day after Georgia defeated TCU in the national championship game near Los Angeles, the Bulldogs’ second straight title. At the time of his arrest, Dumas-Johnson was released on bonds totalling $4,000.
According to a court clerk Tuesday, Dumas-Johnson received 12 months probation and must pay a $635 fine, do 40 hours of community service and complete a traffic violators impact program.
UGA Police issued a brief report in its Jan. 11 daily log about a Jan. 10 incident involving two cars allegedly racing on College Station Road near East Campus Road. At the time, police said the incident would be investigated for possible violations of racing, reckless driving, driving too fast for conditions, fleeing and/or attempting to elude.
Five days later, Dumas-Johnson, known as ‘Pop,’ was among several Georgia football players who police sought information shortly after the crash that took the lives of football player Devin Willock and recruiting analyst Chandler LeCroy.
The reckless driving arrest came just before former Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter was arrested in March in connection with the fatal accident. Carter, who is expected to be among the top players selected in the NFL draft next week, was also charged with misdemeanors of reckless driving and racing. Carter pleaded no contest, neither admitting nor denying charges of street racing and reckless driving. He took the plea deal “to resolve this matter in the most efficient manner possible,” his lawyer, Kim T. Stephens said. A judge sentenced Carter to 12 months of probation, fined him $1,013 and ordered him to perform 50 hours of community service.
Dumas-Johnson, a junior, started every game at middle linebacker for the Bulldogs during their run to the national championship last season. He was a finalist for the Butkus Award that goes to the nation’s top linebacker last season. He played in the annual spring G-Day game on Saturday.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart addressed possible punishment for Dumas-Johnson ahead of spring practices, but did not give specifics.
“Will he be disciplined? Pop, absolutely will be disciplined,” Smart said. “Do I have to define what that discipline is right now? No I don’t have to define what that discipline is, but I can assure you that the education piece is there and that the discipline is there. Our team is a very disciplined team, they’ll do what they’re supposed to do when they’re supposed to do it, and when they don’t, they’re going to face the repercussions of that.”
