USC Annenberg Media Journalists See Charges Dropped

Two USC student journalists will not face charges for taking football jerseys after covering the NFL Draft in April.

USC Annenberg Media journalists Eric Lambkins II and Jude Ocañas have been cleared on charges of felony stealing, second-degree burglary and misdemeanor trespassing when they took football jerseys with them from the “talent waiting room” after covering last April’s NFL draft in Kansas City, Missouri.

The two were sitting on a taxiing plane preparing to return to L.A. when they were arrested. It wasn’t until Lambkins and Ocañas were in jail that they were told the person who gave them the sports jerseys hadn’t been authorized to do so.

According to Christina Bellantoni, director of USC's Annenberg Media Center, the charges were dropped over a month ago.

“These students who worked hard to cover the draft ended up in a bad situation,” Bellantoni said. She added it was “at worst, a big misunderstanding that went very wrong.”

The Missouri district attorney’s office dropped the charges in exchange for the students producing a video offering advice to journalists covering sports.

Bellantoni hopes the video can help student journalists navigate best practices involving sports reporting.

But USC Annenberg teacher Alan Mittelstaedt, who circulated an open letter in support of his former students last May, sees the video requirement and the agreements differently.

“There was, in that agreement, a condition that they not say anything critical of the government or of the NFL, so even though they're speaking out now for the first time, they still have a muzzle on them to some very significant degree,” Mittelstaedt said.

To that end, Mittelstaedt is optimistic he will get to the bottom of why they were arrested and how prosecutors reached this agreement.

Lambkins, an Iraq War veteran and father of three, says he has a passion and heart for service. He is elated to move forward in his career and life, seeing the exchange as an opportunity to turn a traumatic event into a positive change for the Annenberg community and journalism industry at large.

“I didn't think that I would be extended any grace because I am a Black man in America,” Lambkins said. “Our experience with the judicial system generally isn't favorable. So I am pleasantly surprised and appreciative of the decision of the DA.”