Sheriff: No Charges Against Phelps

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says there will be no charges after an investigation into possible drug use by Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps. The Sheriff says investigators didn't find enough evidence to charge anyone, including Phelps, with drug violations. The Sheriff says he hopes Phelps will help educate young people in an attempt to keep them away from drugs.

The investigation began when a picture of Phelps with a bong, taken at an off-campus party at the University of South Carolina, showed up in a British newspaper. The Sheriff says the person who sold the photo got $100,000. He also says there have been past drug violations at the home where the photo was taken and at another one. Seven people were arrested recently and charged with drug possession after deputies searched the houses. But Sheriff Lott says those charges came from drugs found at the scene, not because any of the people arrested might have been at the party with Phelps. The sheriff says he and his investigators did not treat this investigation any differently than any other. For those who think he wasted time and resources, he says two narcotics investigators--who investigate drug use full time--spent only 25 man hours on the investigation.

Sheriff Lott says even with the photo and Phelps apology, it wasn't nearly enough for a charge. "He never said, 'I smoked marijuana.' He never confessed to that. We had no physical evidence. We had a picture, but when you really get down to it, after we did the investigation, we didn't have physical evidence. We didn't have enough where we could go arrest him."

The sheriff says even if he did have enough to make a case, he wouldn't be able to extradite Phelps to face a simple marijuana possession charge.

Phelps was suspended by USA Swimming for three months after the photo emerged. Kelloggs said it would not renew its endorsement deal with Phelps.

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