Former Georgia Tech football star on run from U.S. Marshals

By Kristi E. Swartz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A former Georgia Tech football player convicted of federal drug charges is now on the run from the U.S. Marshals.

Reuben Houston has been on the run from investigators since September, senior inspector Katrina Crouse said.

That’s when he brought a gun to the home of a family whose child had gotten into some sort of a fight with Houston’s daughter, Crouse said.

Crouse said few details were available on Houston’s arrest warrant but said his daughter “got into some kind of dispute with another child, and he became very unhappy about it.”

Houston went to the family’s house in Cobb County to confront the parents about it, Crouse said.

“He got angry, pulled a gun and held everybody at bay for about five minutes,” she said.

One of the family members tried to wrestle the gun from Houston, who eventually left.

Crouse said investigators have been looking for him since that time.

Houston is wanted for making terrorist threats and aggravated assault with a weapon.

He is also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon because of 2005 charges connected to a marijuana distribution ring.

Houston, still playing cornerback for Georgia Tech at the time, was convicted of helping smuggle more than 90 pounds of marijuana into Atlanta from California.

He accepted a plea agreement to lesser charges a year later.

He was suspended from the football team in June 2005 but received a court order to be reinstated in November.

He graduated with a degree in management and signed a free-agent contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the following May.

Crouse said Houston may be in Florida because he spent time there.

The 27-year-old was also a Fayette County high school football and track star.

“What a shame,” Crouse said. “Here’s somebody who had so much talent and promise and opportunities – to then take this path instead.”

Crouse said the U.S. Marshals consider Houston to be violent and dangerous. They do not want the public approaching him.

“We’re more interested in getting tips so we can find him,” Crouse said.

Anyone with information can call the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force at 770-508-2500.