A 4-star recruit out of The Ensworth School in Nashville, Sawyers (6-3, 306) appeared in four games as a freshman in 2014 but was dismissed from the Vols program after the season for what coach Butch Jones called a violation of team and athletics department policy.
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Sawyers, 19, originally was charged in March with felony theft, stemming from an incident in which he was accused of stealing an Xbox and three games from a Tennessee dorm.
He has enrolled at an out-of-state junior college and hopes to return to Division I football, his attorney, Keith Lee Lieberman, told the Tennessean.
“He has no reason to ever come back to Knoxville,” Lieberman said. “To fight this case, it would take a couple years by the time it would come to jury trial. So I can understand why he would want to put this behind him.”
According to the Tennessean, the plea deal requires Sawyers to pay $176 in restitution, in addition to court costs. He also entered a diversion program that would allow the charge to be removed from his’ record in a year if he stays out of trouble.
