A former UNC football player was arrested after receiving a parcel in North Carolina that contained about $160,000 worth of marijuana and THC edibles, authorities said.
Christopher Jamel Hawkins, 37, was charged with intent to sell and deliver marijuana, conspiracy to deliver marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, news outlets reported Wednesday.
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office said investigators this week saw Hawkins pick up the package at a Raleigh home.
Hawkins played for UNC from 2001 to 2003, as well as Marshall University in West Virginia.
He was previously charged in 2015 and again in 2019 for violations of the state’s Uniform Athlete Agent Act, a version of which is enacted in more than 40 states. It bars agents and their representatives from providing gifts to college athletes to entice them to sign representation contracts that would jeopardize their college eligibility.
Hawkins was originally charged in 2015 with providing $13,700 to former UNC football player Robert Quinn and also helping Quinn sell game-worn equipment worth another $1,700.
He was charged last year with three additional violations. According to grand jury indictments from April 2019, Hawkins provided money to former UNC football players Charles Brown ($1,000), Marvin Austin ($1,250) and Kendric Burney ($1,500) in 2010.
Hawkins is due in Orange County Superior Court in those cases Feb. 24.
It’s unclear whether Hawkins had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
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