Georgia leads SEC in player arrests

Kirby Smart has had an interesting first six months at Georgia.

He began his tenure splitting duties between two teams, as he possessed both the title of Georgia head coach and Alabama defensive coordinator while leading the Crimson Tide to a 2015 national championship. He's also had to deal with six of his players getting arrested, two of which have been dismissed from the team (Chauncey Rivers and Chad Clay).

Georgia leads the SEC with six arrests in 2016 as of June 30, 2016. The Bulldogs had only four players arrested in 2015 after seeing eight players have trouble with the law in 2014.

Overall, 20 SEC players (enrolled in the university at the time of arrest) have been arrested thus far in the new year, compared to 23 at this point in 2015. Nine teams have seen players charged with arrests, with Arkansas, Florida, LSU, South Carolina and Vanderbilt all avoiding trouble with the law.

In the first three months of the calendar year, seven SEC players were arrested or charged — the lowest total since 2011 when arrestnation.com began tacking the arrests of professional and college coaches and athletes.

Perhaps the biggest arrests of 2016 were Alabama’s Cam Robinson and Laurence “Hootie” Jones. Robinson and Jones were arrested last month after an officer found stolen weapons in the vehicle Robinson was driving. Both players were charged with illegal carrying of a weapon in the presence of narcotics and misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance.

Neither player will be prosecuted for their arrests in Louisiana, as district attorney Jerry Jones said: "I refuse to ruin the lives of two young who have spent their adolescence and teenage years, working out and sweating, while we were all in air conditioning."

Forty-two SEC players were arrested or prosecuted last season, which was down from the 67 in 2014. Through the first six months of the year, the conference is on pace to finish with fewer arrests in 2016.

Here are all of the SEC football arrests from 2016 thus far:

ALABAMA (2)

• Cam Robinson (May 17): Possession of stolen firearms, possession of controlled dangerous substance
• Lawrence "Hootie" Jones (May 17): Possession of marijuana, illegal carrying of a weapon in presence of narcotics

AUBURN (4)

• Byron Cowart (April 30): Second-degree possession of marijuana
• Carlton Davis (April 30): Second-degree possession of marijuana
• Ryan Davis (April 30): Second-degree possession of marijuana
• Jeremiah Dinson (April 30): Second-degree possession of marijuana

GEORGIA (6)

• Chad Clay (June 22): Theft by taking
• Chauncey Rivers (May 11): Felony violation of Georgia's Controlled Substance Act, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, keeping drugs in a container, parking in a parking spot designated for persons with disability
• Juwuan Briscoe (April 23): Failure to wear a seatbelt, driving without a license
• Chad Clay (April 12): Possession of weapon in a school zone, second-degree criminal damage to property
• Julian Rochester (April 12): Possession of weapon in a school zone, second-degree criminal damage to property
• Jonathan Ledbetter (March 20): Underage possession/furnishing alcohol, possession/making a false ID

KENTUCKY (2)

• Will Thomas Collins (March 4): Alcohol intoxication, criminal mischief, theft, fleeing and invading
• Jason Hatcher (Feb. 22): Speeding, trafficking in marijuana (eight ounces to less than five pounds), tampering with physical evidence, possession of drug paraphernalia

MISSISSIPPI STATE (1)

• Anfernee Mullins (April 8): Simple assault

MISSOURI (1)

• Terry Beckner Jr. (Jan. 20): Possession of 35 grams or less of marijuana

OLE MISS (2)

• Rod Taylor (April 3): Suspicion of shoplifting
• Breeland Speaks (March 4): Suspicion of driving under the influence (first offense)

TENNESSEE (1)

• Alexis Johnson (Feb. 17): Aggravated assault, False imprisonment