Spring Break
Suicide inquiry yields unrelated drug arrests (w/search warrant)
CAITLIN BYRNES
Issue date: 3/17/09 Section: News
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According to police documents:
On Feb. 23, police went to the residence of University students Andrew Judson Hart, Roger Steven Willis and Adam Nicolas Grellinger to discuss the life and death of the deceased University student, Michael Roberds.
Grellinger answered the door, releasing the smell of marijuana from his home. There were three glass marijuana pipes and numerous nitrous oxide containers in plain view.
Because of the illegal drugs the police saw when they went to the house, the officers secured the scene and filed a warrant. The warrant was issued immediately.
When searching the home, officers found nitrous oxide containers, marijuana, pills, mushrooms, ecstacy, smoking devices, a gas mask, whippets and items associated with drug distribution such as scales, packaging materials, a grinder, cash and records of illegal drug transactions.
In total,133 drug-related items were found.
Willis was charged with three felonies: possession of nitrous oxide with intent to sell, possession of schedule I controlled substance and possession schedule II of a controlled substance.
Hart and Grellinger were charged with felony possession of nitrous oxide with intent to sell and misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
University student Janelle Colette Rivard, who was at the house at the time, was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
The police initially contacted Hart, Willis and Grellinger because of a request from the deceased student's father.
Tom Roberds gave the police a list of names and addresses of his son's friends and co-workers so the police could look into possible drug activity.
Michael Todd Roberds, 22, died at 1:50 a.m. from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest on Dec. 19. 2008, according to the Athens-Clarke County coroner's office. Roberds was a biology major from Kennesaw.
"In the end, I think that Mike was disappointed that his great gifts of character - his facile intelligence, lack guile and instinctive generosity - were not necessarily the qualities that the adult world would always place much value on," Tom Roberds wrote in the eulogy. "Had his gifts not been so great, his disappointment likely would not have been so deep."
Friends described Roberds as the one who could always make them laugh.
When contacted by The Red & Black, Grellinger declined to comment. Hart, Willis, Rivard and the Roberds family could not be reached as of Monday night.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 64
ugaprof
posted 3/17/09 @ 9:52 AM EST
What are "whippets"? The OED defines "whippet" as "a small breed of dog" or "a lively young woman." I gather they meant something else...
649Numbers
posted 3/17/09 @ 10:52 AM EST
Interesting post, thanks for it
Ron
posted 3/17/09 @ 10:54 AM EST
Whippets are the huffing of gas from things like whip cream bottles. It gets you high from the NO2 gas....but of course kills lots of brain cells too. (Continued…)
Mark Olsen
posted 3/17/09 @ 11:59 AM EST
What does any of this have to do with a tragic death? here we go again, R AND B.
Nicholas Cole
posted 3/17/09 @ 12:28 PM EST
Michael hated the injustice of the drug war. It was very kind of the State to answer his death by locking his friends in cages.
What is liberty?
BusteD
posted 3/17/09 @ 12:57 PM EST
While I'm all for politicizing drug arrests, the circumstances of this arrest make for special circumstances. If you choose to politicize this event, omitting the loss of life is near impossible. (Continued…)
Katie Smith
posted 3/17/09 @ 1:41 PM EST
Thanks, Red and Black, for treating a painful incident such as a classmate's suicide as a featured event in the Athens 'drug war'.
This poorly written, rather convoluted article demonstrates an immense lack of respect for the deceased. (Continued…)
justice
posted 3/17/09 @ 1:43 PM EST
Not that it really matters because you will believe anything you read in a student newspaper, the items listed that were "found" in this article is simply what they were searching for in the search warrant. (Continued…)
slapyounotme
posted 3/17/09 @ 1:46 PM EST
Its funny how so many people can have an opinion and not know what they are talking about. I am friends with all of the parties in the article and was a friend of Michael's. (Continued…)
tasteofflames
posted 3/17/09 @ 1:54 PM EST
Quick question, why are we politicizing the tragic death of a great guy and turning it into a high point in the Athens drug war? Seriously, this article could very easily have been written with minimal mention of deceased, with the possibility of omitting his name completely. (Continued…)
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