Cannady ’19 enters plea deal, receives conditional discharge

Standout men’s basketball player Devin Cannady ’19 entered a plea agreement on March 11 for the four charges brought against him after he allegedly threw a punch at a Department of Public Safety Officer in Wawa on Jan. 18.

The charges of simple assault, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct were dismissed. For the charge of being under the influence without a prescription, Cannady was given a conditional discharge, which can be dismissed in a year if he does not face other arrests or convictions.

Cannady will also serve 20 hours of community service as part of his agreement.

“That’s what we asked for and the prosecutor agreed to it because it was appropriate, and a normal deal in these sort of situations,” Kim A. Otis, attorney for Cannady, said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian. “It’s a relatively minor case of the use of marijuana. It happens a lot at the University.”

Prosecutor Kim Lacken, explained that she had consulted the police officer Cannady allegedly threw a punch at, as well as his supervisor, and they agreed that the charges were “just a result of an unfortunate event.”

The presiding judge, Honorable John McCarthy ’69, asked Lacken whether Cannady’s role as a star basketball player had any effect on the agreement. Lacken quickly dismissed the notion that Cannady had been given preferential treatment, stating that they treated him just as they would any other civilian when making the deal.

Earlier this year, Cannady was suspended from the team for violating team rules and was later reinstated following an investigation conducted by the University. He announced earlier this month that he was taking a voluntary leave of absence from the University for personal reasons and would not be playing on the men’s basketball team for the rest of the season.

While Cannady’s driving privileges were also subject to a year-long suspension, Otis argued that because Cannady is now living and working in different parts of Indiana, losing these privileges would have a “devastating impact on him.” McCarthy agreed that Cannady’s circumstances were compelling enough to drop this suspension.