Two Idaho football players pled not guilty to a count of misdemeanor theft Wednesday morning in the Latah County 2nd District Court.
Junior linebacker Christian Elliss, 21, and sophomore tight end Dalton Cash, 20, were cited March 18 after allegedly attempting to steal $133 in food from Walmart on West Pullman Road in Moscow.
Both players were appointed public defenders by Judge Megan Marshall, who presided over Wednesday’s 8:30 a.m. arraignment. Elliss will be represented by D. Ray Barker, and Cash by Deborah McCormick.
Idaho Head Coach Paul Petrino has suspended the two from the first game of the 2019 season against the Penn State Nittany Lions Aug. 31.
Dalton Cash attends his arraignment Wednesday at the Latah County District Court.
Olivia Heersink | Argonaut
“We make it very clear that the actions of our student-athletes reflect on more than just themselves and when those actions are not in line with our program’s expectations there will be consequences,” Petrino said in a statement from Idaho Athletics. “Christian and Dalton made a poor decision and they will both be suspended for the first game of the 2019 season.”
Both players appeared in all 11 games during the 2018 season.
Cash’s pretrial conference has been scheduled for 9:30 a.m. April 23, with Elliss’s set for 3:45 p.m. the same day.
If they are convicted, the maximum penalty is a $1,000 fine and up to one year in jail, Marshall said.
The Argonaut will continue to cover this story as more updates become available.
Olivia Heersink can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @heersinkolivia