MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia running back Wendell Smallwood is scheduled for extradition to Delaware on Thursday where he faces charges of witness intimidation involving a 2012 homicide.
The 20-year-old sophomore has been jailed since Monday when members of the Delaware attorney general’s office and Wilmington police interviewed Smallwood in Morgantown and arrested him as a fugitive from justice.
He faces a felony charge of witness tampering after allegedly calling a murder witness during March and May of 2013 and asking the witness to make false statements to Wilmington police regarding the shooting death of Wilmington resident Manuel Oliveras, 51, in April 2012.
Smallwood had enrolled at West Virginia in January 2013, the same month police say his hometown friend Zakee Lloyd was charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Oliveras.
The Monongalia County prosecutor’s office told MetroNews that Delaware law enforcement officials intend to collect Smallwood on Thursday.
Smallwood’s season, and indeed his career at WVU, are in peril. The 5-foot-11, 200-pounder was viewed as the Mountaineers’ most versatile running back with a skills set comparable to NFL third-round pick Charles Sims.
West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen, who heads to Dallas for Big 12 media days next Tuesday, hasn’t announced any disciplinary action regarding Smallwood. Holgorsen’s only response in the three days since the arrest was to say he is monitoring Smallwood’s situation and will act at the appropriate time.