Justin Sayers, and Steve Jones

The Courier-Journal

University of Louisville football player Alphonso Carter has been suspended indefinitely after coach Bobby Petrino learned Monday that Carter had been cited for a gun-related felony during an early December traffic stop.

Carter, a backup cornerback, faces a charge of tampering with physical evidence - a Class D felony - after police said they found a loaded handgun in his car on Dec. 6 in the Park Hill neighborhood, according to a Jefferson District Court citation. Louisville Metro Police said he had the gun underneath the driver's seat and did not have a concealed carry permit.

"We had no previous knowledge of these charges until earlier today, and upon learning of these charges, Alphonso Carter has been suspended indefinitely from all football activities," Petrino said in a school-issued statement after an inquiry from the Courier-Journal.

Carter, 22, who has a year of playing eligibility remaining, traveled with U of L to the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida, three weeks after the incident but wasn't in uniform for the Dec. 31 game due to an injury, a U of L spokesman said Monday.

Carter is at least the third player cited by police since early December. Backup quarterback Jawon Pass was charged with marijuana possession after officers found a bag of the drug during a traffic stop on Jan. 22, and wide receiver Traveon Samuel was cited for allegedly driving his car more than 100 miles per hour on Interstate 65 on Jan. 6 in Bullitt County.

Less than a month after Carter was cited, Petrino said at a pregame Citrus Bowl press conference the team has a "no-gun policy."

"Every player on our team knows that you cannot have a gun and cannot have it on campus," he said. "It is a crime to have a gun on campus. You're dismissed from campus immediately."

Petrino's statement that day was in response to a question about the team's policy in the wake of two other players, linebackers James Hearns and Henry Famurewa, being shot at an off-campus apartment in the early morning of Dec. 11. They also did not play in the bowl game, a 29-9 loss to LSU.

Carter was driving a 2001 Toyota on Hill Street at about 8 p.m. on Dec. 6 when he ran a red light at South 13th Street, according to the citation. Detectives pulled him over on South 15th Street after turning on their emergency lights.

Officers had Carter step out of the car and said he was acting nervous and hesitated to answer questions. He told police that his gun was underneath the seat and that he had put it there while officers were trying to pull him over.

The officers found a Glock 19 9 mm black handgun underneath the driver's seat. There was a round in the chamber and nine rounds in the magazine, the citation said.

Carter was cited with one count each of tampering with physical evidence, carrying a concealed deadly weapon and disregarding a traffic control device. While tampering with physical evidence is a felony charge, he was not booked into jail.

Louisville Metro Police spokesman Dwight Mitchell said he could not comment on why Carter was not booked but said that the department's standard operating procedure allows officers to issue citations for felony offenses if they have the approval of a commanding officer.

"The commanding officer granting this approval shall notify the appropriate division/section/unit commander as soon as practicable and be able to articulate the reason why a citation was issued rather than making a physical arrest," the policy states. "For the purposes of this section of the policy only, an acting sergeant is not considered a commanding officer."

Carter, of Fort Washington, Maryland, initially appeared for an arraignment in Jefferson District Court on Jan. 10 and was entered a plea of not guilty and ordered by Judge Anne Haynie not to possess a firearm, court records show. He appeared again on Jan. 26 and is scheduled to appear next on Feb. 27.

Carter's attorney Aubrey Williams didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

He was a backup on defense this past season and a regular contributor on special teams. He played in every game except for the LSU and Clemson games, recording two tackles, including one for loss.

Carter earned his bachelor's degree in December and was touted in a news release sent by the program on Jan. 23 as one of five players set to begin upcoming spring practice with their degrees in hand.

Carter, who legally changed his name from Paul Harris in 2015, began his college career as a wide receiver at the University of Tennessee after being a four-star high school recruit in Maryland. He left the Volunteers to attend junior college in Iowa, then transferred to U of L in 2015.

Recurring hamstring injuries kept him sidelined nearly all of 2015. He was converted to defense last spring.