BEARS' CAPEL, PROSECUTORS REACH AGREEMENT

GAINESVILLE -- Former Hernando standout John Capel reached a deferred
prosecution agreement with prosecutors Thursday that will allow him to have
a misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana cleared from his record in
six months.

Capel, in minicamp as a rookie with the Chicago Bears this week, didn't
make the trip to the Alachua County Courthouse for Thursday's arraignment,
but his attorney was present to finalize the agreement.

"In six months, if indeed he is not arrested, the case will be dismissed,"
said Michael Hornung of Fort Myers. He said Capel will make a $100 donation
to Gainesville's Black on Black Crime Task Force as part of the arrangement.

Capel was arrested May 5 when an officer making a traffic stop noticed a
"very strong odor of marijuana" and later found less than 20 grams of
marijuana in a fast-food bag on the floor of the car, according to police
reports.

Capel and the passenger denied ownership of the drugs, but the passenger
told police that Capel had told him to put the drugs in the bag after
seeing the police lights in his rearview mirror.

Capel couldn't be reached for comment Thursday, but his lawyer reiterated
allegations of racial profiling from the Alachua County Sheriff's Office,
saying the car never should have been stopped in the first place.

"There's an extraordinary amount of black males being stopped for those
types of violations," Hornung said. "Granted, all of those violations an
officer can make a stop and inquire. What we find very disturbing is that
there is a disproportionate amount of stops on black individuals as opposed
to any other citizens."

The Sheriff's Office declined to comment Thursday, and Hornung went so far
as to accuse the local police of favoring not only minorities, but athletes
as well.

"It's a very strange situation in this county," he said. "They want these
players up here during certain times of the year to fill an 85,000-seat
stadium, but during the rest of the year, it's hell for some of these
athletes."