Gareon Conley received some great news on Monday afternoon.
A grand jury in Cuyahoga County declined charges against the Raiders' first-round draft pick stemming from sexual assault allegations following an April 9 incident in a Cleveland hotel. Conley called the allegations "completely false," and passed a lie dectector test requested by the Baltimore Ravens.
Conley spoke with police and submitted a DNA sample on May 1. The investigation carried on another four months, but the grand jury declined to charge Conley on Monday.
County prosecutor Michael C. O'Malley released the following statement:
"After a thorough investigation by the Cleveland Police Department, the facts and circumstances surrounding the allegations of sexual assault against Gareon Conley were presented to a Cuyahoga County Grand Jury.
"The Grand Jury returned a No Bill on all possible charges."
The Raiders did significant research on Conley prior to selecting him 24th overall in the 2017 draft, and believed Conley would be cleared of all charges. Despite that confidence, general manager Reggie McKenzie was happy the issue is resolved.
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"It's hard for a young man to go through something like that," McKenzie said. "I'm excited for Gareon and the Raiders that the process worked. We're excited, and now we can move forward. ...We trusted our process. We felt good going into it with all the information we (had) that it would come out this way. I'm just glad that it worked out."
With Conley's legal troubles behind, primary focus shifts toward his physical health. He's on the physically unable to perform list with shin splints, an issue that cropped up in a June minicamp. He hasn't practiced since he signed his rookie contract Friday and reported to the Napa Valley Marriott. McKenzie believes his practice return could come soon.
"He has shins splints, so it could be a few days," McKenzie said. "I don't know particulars, but once he starts running and not feeling pain. It's not going to take that long, but we're just going to give him some time to heal up, and then we'll get him out there."
