And now we know a heck of a lot more to the rest of the story.
In early March of this year, it was confirmed that Joseph Saucier was part of an ongoing, unspecified investigation and was no longer a member of the Air Force football team. The issues stemmed even further back than the spring as the running back was actually removed from the team in December.
While no specifics were divulged at the time, the Colorado Springs Gazette is now reporting that Saucier pleaded guilty at an academy hearing Thursday to charges of cocaine use and marijuana possession. In exchange for the guilty plea, military prosecutors agreed to drop an intent to distribute drugs charge.
The legal issues were triggered by a December arrest for possession with the purpose to deliver in his native Arkansas. The month prior to that, Saucier had tested positive for cocaine during what was described as a routine academy drug test.
Saucier told the judge that presided over his hearing that he used cocaine because of academic pressure as well as the pain of a knee injury that prematurely ended his 2018 season.
Per the Gazette, the judge did not immediately sentence the senior cadet. The potential sentence ranges from fines to jail to expulsion, or some combination of the three.
In his first season on the field for the Falcons in 2018, Saucier ran for 274 yards and two touchdowns on 43 carries. The then-junior’s 6.4 yards per carry were tops on an Air Force team that was third nationally in averaging 283.7 yards per game.
Coming out of the backfield, Saucier also caught six passes for 146 yards, a 24.3 yards per catch average that was the highest on the team for all players.
Saucier didn’t play at all his freshman and sophomore seasons at the academy as he was academically ineligible those years.