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Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that a total of 19 students have been arrested in connection with the sting, according to Fort Worth police. Two were arrested last week and the other 17 were rounded up early Wednesday.
FORT WORTH -- Nineteen TCU students, including two starting football players, sold illegal and prescription drugs at the Sigmi Chi house, a Hooters restaurant, a Kroger parking lot and a 7-11 near campus, among other Fort Worth sites, affidavits released Wednesday show.
One of those arrested, Katherine Ann Petrie, 20, sold marijuana to an undercover officer from a house on ritzy Bellaire Drive South with her Lexus SUV parked out front, the documents say.
Four football players were among those arrested, accused of selling marijuana to other students and football players.
The players are linebacker Tanner Brock; defensive lineman D.J. Yendry; offensive tackle Tyler Horn; and cornerback Devin Johnson, according to documents released Wednesday morning.
The documents also say that TCU football coach Gary Patterson sprung a surprise drug test on the football team on Feb. 1, National Signing Day, and that Brock later told an undercover officer that there "would be about 60 people being screwed" as a result of the test.
Brock, the team's leading tackler during the Frogs' 13-0 Rose Bowl season, was injured in 2011.
Sources told the Star-Telegram that Patterson ordered the drug test after a prize recruit told him that he would not attend TCU because of drug use by players.
TCU has not released results of any drug tests, but Johnson told an undercover officer that 82 players failed, the documents say.
The affidavits do not indicate that Patterson knew about the six-month investigation that led to the arrests early Wednesday, including three on campus.
In his statement Wednesday morning, the coach indicated that he did not.
"As I heard the news this morning, I was first shocked, then hurt, and now I am mad," Patterson said.
Fort Worth police said the investigation, which began after tips from parents and students, is ongoing and that more students could be arrested.
"All of those arrested are drug dealers," TCU Police Chief Steven McGee said at a morning news conference. Officers from Fort Worth and the TCU department worked on the investigation.
Arrest warrant affidavits released Wednesday accuse Brock, Yendry and Horn of selling hydroponic marijuana from a house in the 3400 block of Brady Avenue in Fort Worth.
"There are days people want to be a head football coach, but today is not one of those days," Patterson said in his statement.
The news casts a pall on an uplifting period in TCU athletics. The Frogs just missed playing in their third straight BCS bowl after the 2011 season, and will start play in the Big 12 this year.
On Tuesday night, hours before the arrests were announced, the basketball team upset 11th-ranked UNLV.
Patterson has led the Frogs since 2000.
Last year, TCU was lauded in a "Sports Illustrated" article as the only top 25 team in the nation in 2010 with no players on its roster with criminal records.
And, according to the article, TCU and Oklahoma were the only two schools in the top 25 that performs criminal background checks on their recruits.
Some of the students arrested Wednesday members of fraternities, but police said there was no indication that the fraternities themselves were involved.
Some of the alleged deals went down in a drug-free zone, which increases the penalty group to the next higher level, according to state laws. For example, if someone were convicted of selling drugs and it was normally a state jail felony, with a maximum punishment of up to two years in prison, the sentence could be bumped to a third-degree felony, with a punishment range between two and 10 years in prison, according to the Texas Penal Code.
Chancellor Victor Boschini Jr. said he notified students and faculty of the arrests and the university's reaction in an email Wednesday morning. The initial feedback about TCU's response was positive, he said.
One student, senior Lacey Taylor, said Wednesday that she wasn't surprised by the arrests.
"TCU is a great school, but every morning we get emails about alcohol consumption, assaults," she said. "A lot of the kids here come from wealthy backgrounds and they get bored.
"Now, that they made some of these arrests in the dorms, that is surprising. The RA's (resident assistants) are pretty good about keeping that stuff out."
The drugs being sold, including in hand-to-hand transactions to undercover officers, included marijuana, cocaine, acid, ecstasy and prescription drugs, McGee said.
Also arrested were Austin Williams Carpenter, Bud Pollard Dillard, Cynthia Jaqueline Zambrano, Earl Patrick Burke, Eduardo Hernandez, Hunter Wallace McLaughlin, Jonathan Blake Jones, Matthew Iarossi Davis, Michael Gragg King, Peter Signavong, Richard Clay Putney, Scott Lee Anderson, Tayler Davis Cowdin and William Davis Jennings.
"Today's events have changed the life of everybody at TCU," Boschini said.
Earlier Wednesday, Boschini announced the arrests on TCU's website.
"Many current TCU students" were arrested early Wednesday in a drug sweep around campus, he wrote.
"TCU has never before experienced a magnitude of student arrests such as this," he said.
He said that the students were immediately "separated from TCU" and that they face immediate expulsion if they are found guilty.
Boschini wrote: "While this news is certainly shocking and disappointing, it is important to remember that TCU has clear expectations for its students: that they behave in an ethical manner, abide by campus policies and adhere to state and federal law.
"These students are charged with acting in a manner that is incompatible with TCU values and against the law. That is simply unacceptable and such reported behavior is not tolerated at this University."
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that a total of 19 students have been arrested in connection with the sting, according to Fort Worth police. Two were arrested last week and the other 17 were rounded up early Wednesday.
FORT WORTH -- Nineteen TCU students, including two starting football players, sold illegal and prescription drugs at the Sigmi Chi house, a Hooters restaurant, a Kroger parking lot and a 7-11 near campus, among other Fort Worth sites, affidavits released Wednesday show.
One of those arrested, Katherine Ann Petrie, 20, sold marijuana to an undercover officer from a house on ritzy Bellaire Drive South with her Lexus SUV parked out front, the documents say.
Four football players were among those arrested, accused of selling marijuana to other students and football players.
The players are linebacker Tanner Brock; defensive lineman D.J. Yendry; offensive tackle Tyler Horn; and cornerback Devin Johnson, according to documents released Wednesday morning.
The documents also say that TCU football coach Gary Patterson sprung a surprise drug test on the football team on Feb. 1, National Signing Day, and that Brock later told an undercover officer that there "would be about 60 people being screwed" as a result of the test.
Brock, the team's leading tackler during the Frogs' 13-0 Rose Bowl season, was injured in 2011.
Sources told the Star-Telegram that Patterson ordered the drug test after a prize recruit told him that he would not attend TCU because of drug use by players.
TCU has not released results of any drug tests, but Johnson told an undercover officer that 82 players failed, the documents say.
The affidavits do not indicate that Patterson knew about the six-month investigation that led to the arrests early Wednesday, including three on campus.
In his statement Wednesday morning, the coach indicated that he did not.
"As I heard the news this morning, I was first shocked, then hurt, and now I am mad," Patterson said.
Fort Worth police said the investigation, which began after tips from parents and students, is ongoing and that more students could be arrested.
"All of those arrested are drug dealers," TCU Police Chief Steven McGee said at a morning news conference. Officers from Fort Worth and the TCU department worked on the investigation.
Arrest warrant affidavits released Wednesday accuse Brock, Yendry and Horn of selling hydroponic marijuana from a house in the 3400 block of Brady Avenue in Fort Worth.
"There are days people want to be a head football coach, but today is not one of those days," Patterson said in his statement.
The news casts a pall on an uplifting period in TCU athletics. The Frogs just missed playing in their third straight BCS bowl after the 2011 season, and will start play in the Big 12 this year.
On Tuesday night, hours before the arrests were announced, the basketball team upset 11th-ranked UNLV.
Patterson has led the Frogs since 2000.
Last year, TCU was lauded in a "Sports Illustrated" article as the only top 25 team in the nation in 2010 with no players on its roster with criminal records.
And, according to the article, TCU and Oklahoma were the only two schools in the top 25 that performs criminal background checks on their recruits.
Some of the students arrested Wednesday members of fraternities, but police said there was no indication that the fraternities themselves were involved.
Some of the alleged deals went down in a drug-free zone, which increases the penalty group to the next higher level, according to state laws. For example, if someone were convicted of selling drugs and it was normally a state jail felony, with a maximum punishment of up to two years in prison, the sentence could be bumped to a third-degree felony, with a punishment range between two and 10 years in prison, according to the Texas Penal Code.
Chancellor Victor Boschini Jr. said he notified students and faculty of the arrests and the university's reaction in an email Wednesday morning. The initial feedback about TCU's response was positive, he said.
One student, senior Lacey Taylor, said Wednesday that she wasn't surprised by the arrests.
"TCU is a great school, but every morning we get emails about alcohol consumption, assaults," she said. "A lot of the kids here come from wealthy backgrounds and they get bored.
"Now, that they made some of these arrests in the dorms, that is surprising. The RA's (resident assistants) are pretty good about keeping that stuff out."
The drugs being sold, including in hand-to-hand transactions to undercover officers, included marijuana, cocaine, acid, ecstasy and prescription drugs, McGee said.
Also arrested were Austin Williams Carpenter, Bud Pollard Dillard, Cynthia Jaqueline Zambrano, Earl Patrick Burke, Eduardo Hernandez, Hunter Wallace McLaughlin, Jonathan Blake Jones, Matthew Iarossi Davis, Michael Gragg King, Peter Signavong, Richard Clay Putney, Scott Lee Anderson, Tayler Davis Cowdin and William Davis Jennings.
"Today's events have changed the life of everybody at TCU," Boschini said.
Earlier Wednesday, Boschini announced the arrests on TCU's website.
"Many current TCU students" were arrested early Wednesday in a drug sweep around campus, he wrote.
"TCU has never before experienced a magnitude of student arrests such as this," he said.
He said that the students were immediately "separated from TCU" and that they face immediate expulsion if they are found guilty.
Boschini wrote: "While this news is certainly shocking and disappointing, it is important to remember that TCU has clear expectations for its students: that they behave in an ethical manner, abide by campus policies and adhere to state and federal law.
"These students are charged with acting in a manner that is incompatible with TCU values and against the law. That is simply unacceptable and such reported behavior is not tolerated at this University."
