FORMER FOOTBALL PLAYER CHARGED

MANATEE - Former football standout Cedric Bell called deputies to report a
burglary Monday but found himself in handcuffs after investigators said
they found a cache of marijuana and cocaine in plain view at his home.

Bell, 27, who worked as a guard at a local juvenile detention facility,
complained to deputies Monday night that someone was trying to burglarize
his home, according to his arrest report. But deputies didn't find any
evidence of a burglary, said Dave Bristow, spokesman for the Manatee County
Sheriff's Office.

"He may have just thought we would come there, check out the perimeter and
leave," Bristow said.

Instead, Bell allowed deputies to search his home, the report said, where
they followed a scent of marijuana to a stash of 541 grams of the leafy
drug. Deputies also found 7.8 grams of cocaine, scales and plastic baggies,
the report said. The street value of the drugs is more than $11,000.

"It was obvious to us that it was being sold," Bristow said. "He wasn't
just a user."

Bell, a Southeast High graduate, quit his job as a corrections officer at
the Manatee Regional Juvenile Detention Center on Tuesday.

Deputies arrested him early Wednesday morning on charges of possession of
marijuana with intent to sell and possession of cocaine with intent to
sell. He left the Manatee County jail the same day on a $5,000 bond.

Bell declined to speak to the Herald, instead referring a reporter to his
private defense attorney, Joe Campoli.

Campoli said it was too early to comment on his client's case.

"I haven't really had a chance to review the report yet," Campoli said.

Bell worked at the Manatee detention center for five years, according to
Tom Denham, director of communications for the Florida Department of
Juvenile Justice.

"He would have been fired immediately" because of the charges, Denham said.

Denham said there is no evidence that Bell's private activities documented
in the arrest report spilled over to the juveniles he guarded. He said
there will not be an investigation at the facility.

"There's no indication that drugs were used or sold at the facility,"
Denham said. "If he had been found with drugs in the facility or selling
drugs to youths, this would be an entirely different matter."

Bell joins a host of former Manatee County football standouts who have
gotten into trouble in recent years. Travis Garvin, a Southeast graduate
who once tried-out for the Kansas City Chiefs, and Alvoid Mays, a Manatee
High football standout, were arrested together in West Virginia after
authorities there said they robbed a convenience store in October.

Bell was a virtual wall as an offensive lineman, helping Southeast to state
championships in 1993 and 1994. The 6-foot-2, 320-pound athlete was
recruited by Nebraska, Florida State and Miami before he signed on to play
at the University of South Florida. In 1999, his future was in doubt
because of poor academics, according to Herald archives, but it is unclear
why Bell quit football.

Authorities are not sure why Bell called them to the home if drugs were there.

"We're not sure how this all came down, why he would have called in the
first place," Bristow said. "You usually have to really work at an
investigation and this sort of fell into our lap."