Ex-BYU Player’s Drug Case Remanded After Plea Bargain Plan Is Withdrawn

PROVO, Utah — The case of a former Brigham Young football player facing fraudulent drug prescription charges has been remanded to a lower court after a plea bargain arrangement fell through, a defense attorney said Friday.

Steve Sanders, 22, of Orange, Calif., had been scheduled to appear in 4th District Court to enter a plea on one count of attempting to obtain a controlled substance by fraud.

Two other charges, obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and attempting to obtain a controlled substance by fraud were dismissed last month as a result of the plea arrangement.

However, defense attorney Sheldon Carter asked Judge George Ballif to remand the case to 8th Circuit Court, saying the agreement had been withdrawn by the prosecution.

Sanders was arrested April 9 along with his former teammate, Trevor Molini, after police received a phone call from an Orem pharmacist who had verified with a physician that a name on a prescription for a painkiller was fraudulent, police said.

Both players were expelled from the university following their arrests.

Molini pleaded guilty April 17 to a single count of obtaining a prescription drug by fraud and was sentenced to 10 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Both football players had been released in January from an inpatient drug rehabilitation program at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center after being treated for addiction to Percodan.