Browns outside linebacker Armonty Bryant was indicted Tuesday on two counts of felony drug possession stemming from a Christmas-morning traffic stop, according to court records.
Former Browns safety De’Ante Saunders was also indicted on one count of improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle.
The indictment was made public Wednesday.
They’re scheduled to be arraigned at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 24 in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
A Browns spokesman didn’t immediately have a comment on the indictment.
After the players were arrested, former Browns General Manager Ray Farmer said, “these are charges that we take very seriously.”
Bryant is subject to discipline under the NFL’s drug policies.
Saunders, 23, was stopped by State Highway Patrol Sgt. Cliff Dowell on Interstate 71 in Brook Park at 2:16 a.m. Dec. 25 and charged with operating a vehicle impaired and speeding. A Glock .40-caliber handgun belonging to Saunders was found in the car when troopers searched the vehicle. He did not have a permit for the weapon.
A passenger in Saunders’ vehicle, Bryant, 25, was found to be in possession of Oxycodone and Adderall. He could not produce a prescription.
The Browns cut Saunders, who was on the practice squad at the time, three days after the traffic stop. They also made Bryant inactive for the final two games of the season.
Bryant started two games last season and received consistent playing time. He finished second on the team with 5.5 sacks. He’s under contract for one more season.
Less than a week after the Browns drafted him in the seventh round in 2013, Bryant was arrested and later pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence on the campus of East Central University in Ada, Okla. He was also suspended for three games in college and arrested in October 2012 for selling $20 of marijuana twice to an undercover officer, both times in an ECU parking lot, and he was charged with a felony because the transactions came within 2,000 feet of a school.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.