THE JONATHAN HEFNEY STORY

2009:

Former University of Tennessee defensive back and graduate Jonathan Hefney breaks into the Canadian Football League as a player with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

May 2013:

After pulling Hefney over for speeding, South Carolina police find 6.2 grams of marijuana in his vehicle. He is issued a ticket for first-offence possession.

June 2013:

The Blue Bombers release Hefney, but he signs days later with the Calgary Stampeders.

2014:

Hefney does not play in the CFL after being released by the Stampeders in May.

May 2015:

Hefney returns to the CFL on a one-year contract with the Montreal Alouettes. He plays in 13 games, making 45 tackles, intercepting four passes and returning one for a touchdown, and forcing and recovering two fumbles.

Oct. 1, 2015:

In the first quarter of a game between the Alouettes and Redblacks at TD Place stadium, Hefney tries to tackle Ottawa fullback Patrick Lavoie, but their helmet-to-helmet collision fractures three vertebrae in Hefney’s neck and damages nerves to his right arm.

February 2016:

A week or so before his 31st birthday, Hefney has his first operation in a bid to repair the damage resulting from the collision.

May 2016:

The right-handed Hefney signs a one-day contract with the Blue Bombers left-handed and retires as a CFL player.

Oct. 1, 2016:

Hefney’s CFLprovided medical benefits for the neck/shoulder/arm injury lapse after the maximum oneyear coverage stipulated in the collective agreement between the league and the CFL Players’ Association. (The coverage was later extended to two years for players injured in 2019 and three years for those injured in 2020 and beyond.)

June 1-13, 2017:

An informant for investigators with the York County multijurisdictional drug enforcement unit and the Federal Bureau of Investigation buys drugs, including cocaine, from Hefney three times.

Nov. 3, 2017:

The drug enforcement unit arrests Hefney on Interstate 77 near Fort Mill, S.C. A search of his rental vehicle reveals $859 in cash, 3.5 grams of marijuana and two dose units of ecstasy.

June 2018:

Hefney has a second operation in which a steel plate and screws are placed in his right shoulder and latissimus dorsi muscle tissue from his back is grafted onto his right tricep.

The US$88,000 surgery and associated fees for physicians and services consumes virtually all of a $200,000 Cdn (US$120,000) payout from CFL disability insurance coverage.

Sept. 5, 2019:

Hefney appears before Judge William A. McKinnon in York County General Sessions Court and, under terms of a plea bargain with prosecutors, admits guilt to two charges for cocaine trafficking. Five other charges are withdrawn. Hefney is sentenced to nine years in prison.

Sept. 25, 2019:

Hefney surrenders to the South Carolina Department of Corrections and enters the Kirkland Reception and Evaluation Center, a Level 3 high-security facility, in Columbia, S.C.

Dec. 11, 2019:

Although he has been classified as a Level 1 inmate, Hefney is assigned to the Level 2 medium-security Evans Correctional Institution in Bennettsville, S.C., reportedly because it’s the location with medical treatment facilities closest to his hometown of Rock Hill, S.C., 140 kilometres away.

Sept. 22, 2022:

The projected parole eligibility date for Hefney, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections website.

Feb. 28, 2025:

The projected release date for Hefney, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections website.