Former football player lodged in Isabella County Jail, no longer enrolled at CMU
Central Michigan football player Kyron McKinnie-Harper was arrested on Sept. 17 and is lodged in Isabella County Jail.
McKinnie-Harper, 19, was charged with one count of using a computer to commit a crime, which can carry a punishment of 4 to 10 years in prison. McKinnie-Harper is due for release on Sept. 29.
Because McKinnie-Harper was granted Holmes Youthful Trainee Act (HYTA) status, no additional information is available about upcoming court hearings. HYTA is available to offenders between the ages of 17 and 24 years old. Offenders enter a guilty plea, are designated "youthful trainee status" and must successfully complete the terms of their probation. If successful, the offense is removed from a person's criminal record. Court records of the case are sealed.
The CMU Registrar's office confirmed McKinnie-Harper is no longer enrolled at the university.
A warrant was issued for McKnnie-Harper on Feb. 13. He faced one count of using a computer to commit a crime, one count of unauthorized computer access, one count of computer fraud and three counts of larceny by conversion. He waived his preliminary hearing March 5.
McKinnie-Harper is accused of using four student accounts to buy $5,999 in iPhones from CONNECT CMU. Court records state that upon purchasing the phones, McKinnie-Harper had them shipped to two Detroit addresses.
Police contacted four students who had their accounts misused. According to court records, each of the four students said they did not make the purchases and did not grant anyone permission to do so. One student said that McKinnie-Harper used her laptop for a project and said she was logged into her student account while he used the computer.
Upon seizing McKinnie-Harper's phone, Central Michigan University Police Department officers found a text message in which he told someone that he used four student accounts to buy the phones, according to court records.
The thefts occurred on Oct. 27, one day after CMU's loss to Buffalo. McKinnie-Harper did not make the trip to Buffalo with the Chippewas due to injury. However, the injury was not specified by coach Jim McElwain.
He returned to action the following week against Northern Illinois and played the remainder of the regular season games as well as the Dec. 7 Mid-American Conference championship game despite the ongoing investigation.
McKinnie-Harper stayed home during the New Mexico Bowl. McElwain cited an injury as his reason for not traveling. Other injured players made the trip to Albuquerque, however.
Last season, McKinnie-Harper played in 11 games, starting nine. He made 36 total tackles, 25 of which were solo. He also made 10 pass breakups and forced two fumbles. Pro Football Focus named McKinnie-Harper to Second Team All-MAC after his freshman season. Athlon Sports named him Third Team All-MAC in its preseason preview.
McKinnie-Harper is still listed on Central Michigan's football roster.
