SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Receiver Will Mahone has no chance of returning to Notre Dame while facing felony charges of assault on a police officer, intimidation of a public servant and vandalism, his attorney said Tuesday.
Attorney James Gentile said he hopes to get the felony charges against Mahone reduced to misdemeanors before a July 23 preliminary hearing.
“Notre Dame has informed him that as long as there are felonies pending, he is not welcome back,” Gentile said. “He would like to return to Notre Dame. Whether or not he plays football, that’s still up in the air.”
University spokesman Dennis Brown said Tuesday that Mahone has not been enrolled since June 24 but said he couldn’t comment further because of privacy laws.
Mahone was in court Monday evening for a pretrial hearing in Mahoning County Court in Ohio. Mahone has not yet entered a plea on the felony charges, but has pleaded innocent to misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, Gentile said.
Police in Austintown, Ohio, about 70 miles southeast of Cleveland, say that when they responded to reports of a fight on June 14 they found Mahone punching and head butting vehicles and trying to fight several people. Officers said the 20-year-old Mahone appeared highly intoxicated and didn’t comply with orders to get on the ground. They said he yelled obscenities, threatened to kill the officers and struck one officer with his head.
Coach Brian Kelly had suspended Mahone indefinitely from all football-related activities on June 16.
Mahone, who started his career at Notre Dame as a running back, didn’t play as a freshman and was a slot receiver in two games last season but didn’t have a catch or carry.