Yahoo Finance Tennessee LB Kivon Bennett dismissed following arrest on felony gun, drug charges
Tennessee dismissed linebacker Kivon Bennett from the team after he was arrested on Tuesday on felony gun and drug charges, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Bennett was pulled over for speeding on Tuesday morning, which led to his arrest. Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt announced his dismissal just hours later.
“Kivon Bennett has been dismissed from our football program following a traffic stop earlier today,” Pruitt said in a statement, via the News Sentinel. “There is a standard our student-athletes are expected to uphold at Tennessee, and today’s incident fell well short of that standard.”
Kivon Bennett facing gun, drug charges
Bennett, per the report, was pulled over by campus police around 11:20 a.m. on Tuesday morning for driving nearly 15 mph over the speed limit near campus. Officers reportedly smelled marijuana in the car, and Bennett later told police that he had weed and smoked it once a day.
Bennett then told police that he had a handgun under his driver’s seat, which he reportedly said was his that he had purchased at a gun show.
Police found more than 44 grams of marijuana, a scale and plastic baggies and the loaded Glock 17 9mm handgun in his car, per the report. He is facing marijuana possession and possession of a firearm during commission or attempt to commit a felony — both of which are felonies in Tennessee. He is also facing misdemeanor charges of unlawful possession of a weapon and drug paraphernalia possession.
Bennett has 22 total tackles and a team-high 4.5 sacks so far this season for the Volunteers, who have gone just 2-5 and lost five straight. The redshirt junior — who is the son of longtime NFL linebacker Cornelius Bennett — scored a touchdown while recovering a fumble in the end zone, too.
Bennett is now the second player to be dismissed by Pruitt this season, joining former running back Tim Jordan — who was arrested in May and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon.
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