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Maryland football’s Dontay Joyner avoids additional jail time after guilty plea
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- Maryland football’s Dontay Joyner avoids additional jail time after guilty plea
A Harford County Circuit Court judge ruled Wednesday that Maryland football player Dontay Joyner, who pleaded guilty to telephone misuse, will not serve any additional jail time. His charge for electronic communication harassment was dropped.
Joyner received time served — the 27 days he's spent in jail since his arrest on June 11 — in addition to three years of supervised probation, a mental health evaluation, enrollment in the abuse intervention program and no contact with the victim, Joyner's then-girlfriend. But his sentence — three years, all suspended except the time served — means Joyner will soon be released from jail.
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Douglass Gansler, Joyner's lawyer, was satisfied with the result but still took issue with how the case was handled before Wednesday's hearing.
"Being held for 27 days in jail for misdemeanor misuse of a telephone is unprecedented in Harford County and throughout the state of Maryland," Gansler said. "It would not be unprecedented in Mississippi in the 1950s. But it was here.
"It's a civil rights violation, but they would argue that it comes within the parameters of what the law allows."
According to court documents obtained by The Baltimore Sun, officers were dispatched on a report of harassment after the victim, identified by police as Joyner's girlfriend, called. Joyner threatened over text to shoot her while driving from his home in Laurel to hers in Edgewood, according to court documents.
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Additionally, following his arrest and while being held, a detective discovered Joyner continued to attempt to contact the victim, according to court documents.
"The judge recognized that the way he spoke to his girlfriend was inappropriate and offensive," Gansler said. "On the other hand, he wasn't charged for all those things. He was charged with misuse of a telephone, because that's all he did."
Joyner's former girlfriend was in court Wednesday morning and told Judge Kerwin A. Miller that Joyner did not deserve additional jail time. Miller said he considered her pleas when assessing his sentencing.
"If every judge in Maryland were like Judge Miller, we'd have an incredibly perfect judicial system," Gansler said. "I thought the way the judge listened to all the witnesses, looked at the evidence, and most importantly, spoke to Dontay, was extraordinary. He did exactly the right thing."
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The prosecution, pushing for a full three-year sentence, said Joyner's case was "among the worst I've ever seen" because of the nature and amount of text messages and phone calls Joyner allegedly made.
Joyner made more than 100 calls in the days leading up to his arrest, according to evidence presented by the prosecution. Included in the texts, read aloud in the courtroom Wednesday, were promises from Joyner's girlfriend to call Maryland coach Michael Locksley if his threats continued.
"Leave me alone before I tell your head coach," one message read. "You're forgetting I have coach Locksley's phone number," another stated.
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A team spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Joyner, a Lakeland, Florida native, transferred to Maryland from Arkansas State before last season. He started every game at cornerback for the Terps in 2025 and was named All-Big Ten honorable mention.
From the front of the courtroom, Joyner apologized to his teammates and coaches, although none were present.
The 21-year-old enters his senior season this fall in line to be a key piece in Locksley's defense. Maryland opens its season on Sept. 5 against Hampton. Gansler said Wednesday that the team is supportive and wants to "let the judicial process work itself out."
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Asked if Joyner's status on the Terps has changed, Gansler deferred to coaches.
"He's got every chance to come back and get this taken care of," Gansler said.
Have a news tip? Contact Taylor Lyons at tlyons@baltsun.com , 410-332-6200 and x.com/TaylorJLyons .
