Charges against Puk reduced
Third-degree felony charges against Florida pitchers A.J. Puk, a Cedar Rapids Washington graduate, and Kirby Snead have been reduced to misdemeanor trespassing, State Attorney Bill Cervone said Wednesday.
Cervone said Puk and Snead will be offered deferred prosecution in the case. If they sign the agreement and meet all of its requirements, their records will be clean.
Puk and Snead were arrested by University Police on Sunday night and charged with third-degree felony trespassing for climbing onto a crane at a construction site on campus. They were suspended from the team by coach Kevin O’Sullivan on Monday.
Cervone said the felony charge did not match the crime.
“While the arrests were completely appropriate, the facts in this case do not fit the purpose of felony trespass, but they do fit the ordinary misdemeanor version of trespass, which is all about being where you are not supposed to be,” Cervone said. “These cases have therefore been reduced to misdemeanor trespass offenses, for which both defendants, as first offenders, are eligible for, and I assume, will elect to accept a diversionary disposition involving the normal conditions designed to impose punitive and corrective messages.”
Cervone said the deferred prosecution agreement likely will require Puk and Snead to perform community service, pay a fine and undergo evaluation and counseling if necessary for potential alcohol abuse issues.
Puk is 6-3 this season and was recently moved to the bullpen after some erratic starts. He has appeared in nine games, seven of them starts. Snead, a Santa Fe High School graduate, is 1-0 in 13 appearances.
