8 Arrested in Connection With Michael Phelps Bong Photo

8 people associated with the party the house and the photo have been arrested. A search warrant was served and the bong may now be in police custody. It didn't help that one of these geniuses tried to sell the bong on ebay.

At first I thought, wow karma is served as like Seth Myers said, if your first thought is to take a picture and sell it to a tabloid instead of thinking wow I get to party with Michael Phelps, then you're a dick but not so fast. In the second video replay of the newscast, they mention that they can match the house to the photos. The sherifff stated last week he needs to prove it happened in his county. He may have that now and I bet one reason these arrests took place is so that he can get one of these 8 people to flip and admit it was marijuana in the bong so he can get Michael.

Also, it looks like the Columbia Police department does have better things to do than the county sheriff as they don't want to open an investigation into it.


WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Eight arrested in Michael Phelps case.

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Another source on the story because the sheriff's department is saying they didn't leak the information to the tv station. This is so like middle school what they're doing over this photo. I also included it because people were asked to RESPECT HIS PRIVACY!!!

Arrests reported -- but not confirmed -- in Michael Phelps bong case | The Fabulous Forum | Los Angeles Times
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COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - New details have emerged about a party where Olympic champion Michael Phelps was spotted.

On Feb. 2, a British tabloid published a picture of the 14-time Olympic gold medalist using a water pipe to smoke marijuana. The picture was taken at a party in Columbia back in November when Phelps was here for a visit.

The Richland County Sheriff's Department has been taking a lot of heat from people in this country and all over the world.

They want to know why Sheriff Leon Lott is going after Michael Phelps.

Many are saying the sheriff should concentrate on more serious crimes, or at the very least, not focus solely on the Olympic champion when there were others at the party who were also breaking the law.

Now it appears the case has expanded beyond Phelps' activities.

The party took place in November at a house on Blossom Street near Five Points.

It was at that house where someone snapped the photo of Phelps taking a hit on a marijuana pipe called a bong.

Lott says the picture indicated a law was being broken in his jurisdiction. He said he couldn't ignore the violation just because Phelps is rich and famous.

We've now learned that since investigators began trying to build a case, they've made eight arrests: seven for drug possession and one for distribution. These are arrests that resulted as the sheriff's department served search warrants.

We've also learned that the department has located and confiscated that bong.

Sources say the owner of the bong was trying to sell it on eBay for as much as $100,000.

The owner, who wasn't even at the party, is one of the eight now charged.

Phelps is not one of those charged at this point, but the sheriff's department has strong evidence that matches the photo to the house on Blossom Street.

That house is in the city, but the Columbia Police Department decided not to initiate or take an active role in the investigation.
Governor Mark Sanford is also weighing in on the sheriff's actions.

On the FOX News Channel Sunday night, Geraldo Rivera asked Sanford whether Phelps should be prosecuted.

"I don't see what it gets at this point," said Sanford.

His spokesman told us Monday night Sanford is letting that quote stand.

Good stuff, FBR

Sounds like his so called "friends" or fellow "smokers" really sold him out to the media.

He won 14 golds, When does he earn a little R&R with his weed.

Come on, Give me a break. He is human too...

I'm still amazed by the stupidity of these people. Selling the photo, trying to sell the bong, seeing the story every night on tv, and you still have enough pot in the house in question that got someone a distribution charge and 7 possession charges. I guess they should stop smoking so much and get their heads outta their asses. The sheriff said he was coming, what did they think was going to happen.


What Michael Phelps Should Have Said Smoking pot shouldn't be a crime. Or the public's business.

By Radley Balko

Dear America,

I take it back. I donâ??t apologize.

Because you know what? Itâ??s none of your goddamned business. I work my ass off 10 months a year. Itâ??s that hard work that gave you all those gooey feelings of patriotism last summer. If during my brief window of down time I want to relax, enjoy myself, and partake of a substance thatâ??s a hell of a lot less bad for me than alcohol, tobacco, or, frankly, most of the prescription drugs most of you are taking, well, you can spare me the lecture.

I put myself through hell. I make my body do things nature never really intended us to endure. All world-class athletes do. We do it because you love to watch us push ourselves as far as we can possibly go. Some of us get hurt. Sometimes permanently. Youâ??re watching the Super Bowl tonight. Youâ??re watching 300 pound men smash each while running at full speed, in full pads. You know what the average life expectancy of an NFL player is? Fifty-five. Thatâ??s about 20 years shorter than your average non-NFL player. Yet you watch. And cheer. And you jump up spill your beer when a linebacker lays out a wide receiver on a crossing route across the middle. The harder he gets hit, the louder and more enthusiastically you scream.

Yet you all get bent out of shape when Ricky Williams, or I, or Josh Howard smoke a little dope to relax. Why? Because the idiots youâ??ve elected to make your laws have, without a shred of evidence, beat it into your head that smoking marijuana is something akin to drinking antifreeze, and done only by dirty hippies and sex offenders.

Youâ??ll have to pardon my cynicism. But I call bullshit. You donâ??t give a damn about my health. You just get a voyeuristic thrill from watching an elite athlete fall from graceâ??all the better if you get to exercise a little moral righteousness in the process. And itâ??s hypocritical righteousness at that, given that 40 percent of you have tried pot at least once in your lives.

Hereâ??s a crazy thought: If I can smoke a little dope and go on to win 14 Olympic gold medals, maybe pot smokers arenâ??t doomed to lives of couch surfing and video games, as our moronic government would have us believe. In fact, the list of successful pot smokers includes not just world class athletes like me, Howard, Williams, and others, it includes Nobel Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, the last three U.S. presidents, several Supreme Court justices, and luminaries and success stories from all sectors of business and the arts, sciences, and humanities.

So go ahead. Ban me from the next Olympics. Yank my endorsement deals. Stick your collective noses in the air and get all indignant on me. While youâ??re at it, keep arresting cancer and AIDS patients who dare to smoke the stuff because it deadens their pain, or enables them to eat. Keep sending in goon squads to kick down doors and shoot little old ladies, maim innocent toddlers, handcuff elderly post-polio patients to their beds at gunpoint, and slaughter the family pet.

Tell you what. Iâ??ll make you a deal. Iâ??ll apologize for smoking pot when every politician who ever did drugs and then voted to uphold or strengthen the drug laws marches his ass off to the nearest federal prison to serve out the sentence he wants to impose on everyone else for committing the same crimes he committed. Iâ??ll apologize when the sons, daughters, and nephews of powerful politicians who get caught possessing or dealing drugs in the frat house or prep school get the same treatment as the no-name, probably black kid caught on the corner or the front stoop doing the same thing.

Until then, I for one will have none of it. I smoked pot. I liked it. Iâ??ll probably do it again. I refuse to apologize for it, because by apologizing I help perpetuate this stupid lie, this idea that what someone puts into his own body on his own time is any of the governmentâ??s damned business. Or any of yours. Iâ??m not going to bend over and allow myself to be propaganda for this wasteful, ridiculous, immoral war.

Go ahead and tear me down if you like. But letâ??s see you rationalize in your next lame ONDCP commercial how the greatest motherfucking swimmer the world has ever seen...is also a proud pot smoker.

Yours,

Michael Phelps

In a way I'm glad those snitches got arrested. However, it's such a ridiculous waste of resources.

We all just know, too, that there's some rape or murder investigation getting put on the backburner so they can address the horror of an athlete who took a bong hit.

Our cultural values need a re-design, BIG TIME.

Who ever leading that investigation is probably having the time of his life. What with being on the television and every thing.

This story has gone way to far.

Wow, and people wonder why there's so many fucking murders and child molesters walking on the streets..this type of shit bursts my bubble..un-fucking-believable..do they not have any REAL criminals to arrest??

But for the record, what a fucking idiot...why would you try to sell that shit..it's idiots like this that reiterates the stereotypical idiotic stoner that doesn't think..how stupid can someone be..."yeah bro, this is the bong phelps smoked marijuana out of at my house, ima get me some mo' weed money dizzle.." what a fuck. They should just arrest the dumbass trying to sell it and put him on americas dumbest criminals.

With no evidence of marijuana, there's no conviction. that's why people eat their stash, coz there's no evidence left. Tho theses cops will try everything, even claiming you're under the influence because it's in your blood stream. They won't get Phelps, those other narcs i could care less about, i hope they meet some new bum buddies real soon

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Originally Posted by Reefer Rogue

With no evidence of marijuana, there's no conviction. that's why people eat their stash, coz there's no evidence left. Tho theses cops will try everything, even claiming you're under the influence because it's in your blood stream. They won't get Phelps, those other narcs i could care less about, i hope they meet some new bum buddies real soon

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Afraid you're wrong. He's already admitted it was marijuana, and now that they have the bong, which if the idiot was selling it I don't think he'd be smart enough to get 100% of the residue out of it. I don't expect he'll get in a lot of shit, but his buddies sure will. Phelps can buy him a nice lawyer to pay off the courts.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FakeBoobsRule

I'm still amazed by the stupidity of these people. Selling the photo, trying to sell the bong, seeing the story every night on tv, and you still have enough pot in the house in question that got someone a distribution charge and 7 possession charges. I guess they should stop smoking so much and get their heads outta their asses. The sheriff said he was coming, what did they think was going to happen.


What Michael Phelps Should Have Said Smoking pot shouldn't be a crime. Or the public's business.

By Radley Balko

Dear America,

I take it back. I donâ??t apologize.

Because you know what? Itâ??s none of your goddamned business. I work my ass off 10 months a year. Itâ??s that hard work that gave you all those gooey feelings of patriotism last summer. If during my brief window of down time I want to relax, enjoy myself, and partake of a substance thatâ??s a hell of a lot less bad for me than alcohol, tobacco, or, frankly, most of the prescription drugs most of you are taking, well, you can spare me the lecture.

I put myself through hell. I make my body do things nature never really intended us to endure. All world-class athletes do. We do it because you love to watch us push ourselves as far as we can possibly go. Some of us get hurt. Sometimes permanently. Youâ??re watching the Super Bowl tonight. Youâ??re watching 300 pound men smash each while running at full speed, in full pads. You know what the average life expectancy of an NFL player is? Fifty-five. Thatâ??s about 20 years shorter than your average non-NFL player. Yet you watch. And cheer. And you jump up spill your beer when a linebacker lays out a wide receiver on a crossing route across the middle. The harder he gets hit, the louder and more enthusiastically you scream.

Yet you all get bent out of shape when Ricky Williams, or I, or Josh Howard smoke a little dope to relax. Why? Because the idiots youâ??ve elected to make your laws have, without a shred of evidence, beat it into your head that smoking marijuana is something akin to drinking antifreeze, and done only by dirty hippies and sex offenders.

Youâ??ll have to pardon my cynicism. But I call bullshit. You donâ??t give a damn about my health. You just get a voyeuristic thrill from watching an elite athlete fall from graceâ??all the better if you get to exercise a little moral righteousness in the process. And itâ??s hypocritical righteousness at that, given that 40 percent of you have tried pot at least once in your lives.

Hereâ??s a crazy thought: If I can smoke a little dope and go on to win 14 Olympic gold medals, maybe pot smokers arenâ??t doomed to lives of couch surfing and video games, as our moronic government would have us believe. In fact, the list of successful pot smokers includes not just world class athletes like me, Howard, Williams, and others, it includes Nobel Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, the last three U.S. presidents, several Supreme Court justices, and luminaries and success stories from all sectors of business and the arts, sciences, and humanities.

So go ahead. Ban me from the next Olympics. Yank my endorsement deals. Stick your collective noses in the air and get all indignant on me. While youâ??re at it, keep arresting cancer and AIDS patients who dare to smoke the stuff because it deadens their pain, or enables them to eat. Keep sending in goon squads to kick down doors and shoot little old ladies, maim innocent toddlers, handcuff elderly post-polio patients to their beds at gunpoint, and slaughter the family pet.

Tell you what. Iâ??ll make you a deal. Iâ??ll apologize for smoking pot when every politician who ever did drugs and then voted to uphold or strengthen the drug laws marches his ass off to the nearest federal prison to serve out the sentence he wants to impose on everyone else for committing the same crimes he committed. Iâ??ll apologize when the sons, daughters, and nephews of powerful politicians who get caught possessing or dealing drugs in the frat house or prep school get the same treatment as the no-name, probably black kid caught on the corner or the front stoop doing the same thing.

Until then, I for one will have none of it. I smoked pot. I liked it. Iâ??ll probably do it again. I refuse to apologize for it, because by apologizing I help perpetuate this stupid lie, this idea that what someone puts into his own body on his own time is any of the governmentâ??s damned business. Or any of yours. Iâ??m not going to bend over and allow myself to be propaganda for this wasteful, ridiculous, immoral war.

Go ahead and tear me down if you like. But letâ??s see you rationalize in your next lame ONDCP commercial how the greatest motherfucking swimmer the world has ever seen...is also a proud pot smoker.

Yours,

Michael Phelps

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lol..pure genius. How far-out would that be if he sent that reply.

:rastasmoke:

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8 people associated with the party the house and the photo have been arrested. A search warrant was served and the bong may now be in police custody. It didn't help that one of these geniuses tried to sell the bong on ebay

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I bet this is going to be one of those Tommy Chong stories..you know the one...... 100 people indited an Tommy is the only one that did jail time.

8 people indited and who do you think is going loose the most...Micheal..... for what....getting high??? No being famous

Look how many people are on youtube videos about making hash...getting high....they arent prosecuted.....I bet if a celebrity showed us how to make hash it would be an entirely different story:D

Watch out Obama...they might have cameras in your bong room:hippy:

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Originally Posted by LazySmoking420

He is human too...

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False. He eats 12,000 calories a day. He also swims way too much. I don't trust him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Markass

Afraid you're wrong. He's already admitted it was marijuana, and now that they have the bong, which if the idiot was selling it I don't think he'd be smart enough to get 100% of the residue out of it. I don't expect he'll get in a lot of shit, but his buddies sure will. Phelps can buy him a nice lawyer to pay off the courts.

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When did he admit it was marijuana? I know he apologised for regrettable behavior or whatever he said. The picture doesn't show any, not even any smoke.. I saw a thread on a cops forum about this sherrif in NC and they basically laughed at him and said there was no way they would be able to convict him without actual evidence. If they have the bong, then they may charge someone with paraphenalia but i'm skeptical Phelps will receive any legal ramifications from this. If i'm wrong and i may be then that's my bad.

The cops have executed another search warrant on another house connected to the damn bong. Mike, next time smoke a joint and don't say what was in it. It might be easier to pull off than with a bong!


COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Sharp criticism Thursday from attorneys for two people arrested during the Michael Phelps drug investigation.

The suspects are among eight charged after Richland County began trying to determine whether Phelps broke the law by smoking pot at a party in Columbia.

It's a waterfront rental house in the Ballentine Cove community on Lake Murray. A house neighbors like Richard MacNett say has been the site of more than one large, loud party.

"Particularly that first Saturday night they were here in January, we could hear the reverberations from the drums, music and so on," MacNett said.

Richland County investigators confirm that assessment.

In a search warrant, officers say they visited the house Jan. 10 to check out an improperly parked car.

They found one of those parties underway and when officers went to the front door, they say they saw a man grab a bag of marijuana from a table and run to the rear of the house.

They arrested him.

The search warrant links at least two people living at the house on Ballentine Cove to the now infamous house on Blossom Street where investigators believe Olympic superstar Michael Phelps was photographed smoking marijuana. The warrant says both of those people were also seen leaving the Blossom Street house on Feb. 4 and when confronted, both admitted smoking pot.

A couple of days later, investigators went back to Ballentine Cove.

This time, they searched through garbage left at curbside and found paperwork that gave them names of one or more of the people targeted in this case.

Multiple sources identify one of the four people who live at the lake house, who is now charged with possession.

He is said to be 23-year-old professional poker player Zachary "Carter" King.


Poker Web sites say last September, King won more than a million dollars playing poker.

This afternoon two young men left the house while we were there with one partially hiding his face as their SUV passed our camera.

King has consulted with Columbia attorney Joe McCulloch, who used the word "pathetic" to describe the warrant used to search the lake house.

Attorney Dick Harpootlian tells us he represents another suspect, one of the men we saw in the SUV.

The former solicitor says the sheriff's department has gone overboard on the case.

"If the sheriff got a picture of Joe Blow today, a USC student smoking marijuana allegedly or apparently on a bong, would he begin an investigation to find out if that was marijuana or not? Search two houses, arrest eight people, grill them all about who that was and if they were smoking marijuana or not? I don't think so. I think there is a different standard and I think it ought to stop," Harpootlian said.

Harpootlian says the sheriff's department sent a dozen deputies to search that lake house with some going in with guns drawn.

The warrant notes that people engaged in illegal drug activity often have weapons on them or nearby.

Meanwhile, we've learned that King is scheduled to appear before the Dentsville magistrate March 26 to face a charge of simple possession.

WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | New details: Columbia attorney calls warrant in Phelps case "pathetic"

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Originally Posted by Reefer Rogue

When did he admit it was marijuana? I know he apologised for regrettable behavior or whatever he said. I saw a thread on a cops forum about this sherrif in NC and they basically laughed at him and said there was no way they would be able to convict him without actual evidence.

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True and true again. He never said he smoked marijuana he said regrettable behavior.

As far as getting evidence, that's what this witch hunt is all about, not about metering out justice across the board but to get enough evidence to try to charge Phelps.The end goal of these arrests is to get someone to flip on Michael.

I'm surprised that the prosecutor for Richland county hasn't said something. If Lott does arrest Phelps, that really is the easy part. The buck stops with the prosecutor as it'll be his job to prove to a jury beyond a shadow of a doubt that he's guilty. Prosecutors don't like to take on frivolous cases or cases that can't be won. He might not want to be known as the prosecutor who dragged Michael Phelps through the mud. Many times the prosecution is much harder than the arrest and gathering of the evidence. The sheriff and all the resources he has available to him almost go unopposed at this point of the investigation but in court, the playing field is leveled if it comes to that point as Michael will have his lawyer with him fighting for him before, during, and after court. Whether it is uncovering evidence before any trial, making sure Michael and other people's Consitutional rights weren't violated, stop the trial by public media the sheriff is engaged in, and defending Michael, it's a lot different when it is the state of South Carolina on one side and the defense team for Michael Phelps on the other side.

Lawyers usually have completed a higher level of education than sheriffs. Most lawyers will have an undergraduate degree and their JD. Does this mean anything? Sometimes it does as a prosecutor who has spent 20+ years in school just to become a lawyer might not be willing to risk it all on one case. I'm not trying to crack on anyone who doesn't have a college degree but I've never understood how in this country someone can graduate high school and then go to police academy for 12-18 months and can then be given a gun and the power to take a life. In some weird way, prosecutors can be more level headed than a police chief or sheriff many times. Again, maybe it's because the buck stops with them.


There's a saying, you can indict a ham sandwich but that doesn't mean you're going to get a conviction.

Why anyone would want to bring down Phelps? Jealousy, ego, thirst for power, fame, throwing their authority around, not happy with their own life, take your pick.

No one cares about you Leon Lott and in a few weeks you will be forgotten and Michael Phelps will still have the gold, fame, star power, and his whole life still ahead of him. This country loves a comeback story and hard as Lott tries, he matters little in this world. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger and Phelps will grow from this and become even stronger.

The only person Lott is bringing down is himself and his own county and state. Last time I checked South Carolina is not a thriving economic area and I believe their unemployment rate is higher than most states in the U.S. right now. So instead of using star power (Phelps later went to a University of South Carolina football game and was introduced to the crowd during it and was graciously received) to help their state, this idiot is sending one cold invitation to stars and celebrities. Team this with a plane crash (mind you the plane really never left the ground and it was more like a high speed car accident) that killed 4 and almost killed Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker and stars and celebrities are not going to want to go to South Carolina because either they die or get arrested.

I bet you if Michael Phelps were to go to another football game in South Carolina, the applause and cheers he'll receive will be greater than before.

I hope all this grandstanding BS comes back to bite this sheriff.

He seems like he is mostly out for publicity, but it could easily backfire. He is obviously wasting time and resources on this thing, and if I livied in that county, I would resent that --- especially if I was the victim of a REAL crime that didn't get the attention it deserved, while a dozen duputies spent their day tearing apart a house looking for a bong. Citizens of that county should ask themselves if they are getting what they are paying for from their sheriff. If they are happy to pay for their sheriff's department to spend its time chasing after pot-smoking olympic swimmers, then great. If not, they should kick this moron out on his ass.

Phelps has nothing to worry about. Even if he does get charged, it could only be some bullshit misdemeanor crime which in columbia is probably just a fine. Everyone already knows he smokes, he should become an advocate and say it helped him win the olympics.

The SHERIFF already said he's NOT being charged.
Stupid fuckers deserve to get caught. Hang out with a celeb, do something Illegal and THEN TAKE PICTURES. :asskick: