Former Wayne Hills Football Player Pleads Guilty to Drug Charge

Andrew Monaghan, a former Wayne Hills football player who was one of nine students charged with assaulting two Wayne Valley football players pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana in Superior Court Friday.

Monaghan will be sentenced on the charge March 7, NorthJersey.com reported. He is facing probation.

Monaghan allegedly received a package in the mail at his Wayne home containing marijuana March 13, the website reported.

Monaghan, 20, was the only adult out of the nine players who were charged with two counts of aggravated assault stemming from a fight at a party in October 2011.

Monaghan attends college out of state, the website reported. He played football at Wesley College in Delaware last year.

Seven of the eight players who were minors pleaded guilty to simple assault. That charge could be removed from their records if they meet terms of a special juvenile probation program. One player, Troy Zaffino, had the charges dropped against him due to lack of evidence.

Monaghan received Pre-Trial Intervention for the alleged assault.

All nine players were suspended from playing in the team group state championship game in December 2011. The incident created a firestorm of controversy for the school district, the football team, and its then-coach, Chris Olsen. 

Monaghan was arrested again in July 2012. Monaghan was charged with disorderly conduct after police said he interfered with an officer who was investigating a noise complaint at a party in July. He pleaded not guilty the charge.

Monaghan allegedly encouraged an individual the officer was speaking with to not give the officer his name and also urged him to shut the door on the officer. The officer warned him three times to stop and didn’t, police said.

He pleaded guilty in December 2012 to creating a disturbance and paid a $188 in fines and court costs.

Monaghan was also involved in an incident where a teammate blew an air horn into a teacher’s face, injuring her.