Elite 2016 recruit Darnell Salomon apologized to Mark Richt for his role in a “Dawg Night” burglary incident in July of 2014. (247 sports)
Elite wide receiver prospect Darnell Salomon had his day in court last week facing charges from a July 2014 arrest at UGA's 'Dawg Night' elite prospect camp. The five-star recruit pled guilty to a charge of burglary in the first degree on June 19.
The rising senior at Miami (Fla.) Central was given first offender status and five years probation. Salomon was also sentenced to perform 320 hours of community service. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound receiver was given one year to perform half of those hours. Those hours will be split between 80 hours in Athens and another 80 hours in South Florida. The same ratio will apply to the second year of those community service hours.
RELATED: 5-star receiver apologizes to UGA head football coach Mark Richt
The judge also ruled for Salomon to undergo a substance abuse evaluation and any necessary treatment. Clarke County Assistant District Attorney Jeff Kwiatkowski served as the lead prosecutor in the case. He also told the AJC another charge related to a "Peeping Tom" role was dismissed.
“He’s also barred from the Western Circuit,” Kwiatkowski said. “Which is in Oconee County and Athens Clarke-County except to complete his sentence for court purposes. He’s also supposed to write a letter of apology to Mark Richt.”
Per that ruling, it means Salomon is barred from visiting Athens. He is only allowed to return to the Western Circuit to complete his community service hours. The judge did allow an exception for football games. If Salomon played for an opposing college team and that school came to Athens for a game in Sanford Stadium, then he would be allowed to do that.
Kwiatkowski believes it has already been worked out that Salomon will serve his community service with a local Salvation Army. The charges stemming from that incident caused Georgia to drop him from their recruiting board. He was identified last July as a suspect accused of entering the unlocked suite of two female students in Busbee Hall and stealing an iPhone and a wallet containing cash and credit cards.
The Miami Central senior discussed the matter with UGASports at the 5-star Challenge in Baltimore earlier this month. Salomon told UGASports he had already written a letter of apology to Richt. 247sports rates Salomon as the No. 4 receiver in the nation for the Class of 2016. Rivals rates him as the No. 2 receiver and the No. 16 overall prospect regardless of position.
The Athens-Banner Herald reported in October of 2014 that the search warrant released by the Clarke County Clerk's Office accused him of felony burglary. It also stated Salomon turned himself in on July 25 on a charge of first-degree felony burglary. He was also accused of stealing a wallet and an iPhone on July 19. The stolen phone's owner was also a UGA athlete and she advised police of new downloaded photos to her iCloud account which she did not recognize.
According to the warrant, the investigation led them to Salamon's Florida address through the use of the Find My iPhone application. An athletic department spokesman told the Banner-Herald in that report his recruitment by UGA came to an end when the alleged incident initially occurred.
Salomon was also ordered to pay restitution of $400 to one student and $5 to another student. The $400 was meant to cover the cost of the iPhone and its case.
Jeff Sentell covers UGA recruiting for AJC.com and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on who’s on their way to play Between the Hedges.
