BUFFALO, N.Y. — A judge agreed Monday that Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly has met the community service and other conditions of a plea agreement reached after he was arrested for fighting with bouncers outside a Buffalo nightclub.
“Mr. Kelly has done everything he was required to do,” his attorney, Thomas Eoannou, told City Court Judge Susan Eagan, who accepted the findings at a brief hearing, which Kelly didn’t attend.
“This case is over,” Eoannou said after the appearance. “It is behind him as of right now and he’s looking forward to playing football.”
Kelly’s arrest Dec. 21, days after signing with Ole Miss, could have affected his status with the team, but he has since reported to campus and is vying against two others to become starting quarterback. Kelly is a nephew of Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, who played 11 seasons with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.
Under a January plea agreement, Kelly admitted to a charge of disorderly conduct and agreed to perform 50 hours of community service. Eagan also required Kelly to undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation, saying he could face 15 days in jail if he didn’t comply with the terms.
The 20-year-old sent a written apology to the Buffalo Police Department, whose officers charged him with more serious counts of resisting arrest and menacing after, according to a police report, he traded punches with bouncers in an early morning altercation.
It was not his first brush with trouble. Kelly was kicked off the Clemson team in April 2014 following an argument with the coaching staff during a spring game. Tigers’ coach Dabo Swinney said then that Kelly exhibited a “pattern of behavior that is not consistent with the values of our program.”
From there, he went to East Mississippi Community College in Scooba, where he led the program to a National Junior College Athletic Association national title. Kelly met his court-ordered community service obligation by helping to maintain the community college’s athletic field, Eoannou said.
Kelly, who grew up in nearby Niagara Falls, is in Haiti on a volunteer humanitarian mission with Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze that isn’t related to his court case, his lawyer said.
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