to a misdemeanor. Maybe Lehigh will re-hire him now or another program will pick him up.

Sammy. The track record with him is he’s a very good person and not someone wrought with personal issues. Hopefully they will reconsider their poor, overreactive decision.

likely would have suspended him and let it all play out before a final decision. In this case, it is very difficult to justify the hire to the board of regents and the athletic department. Lehigh is a Patriot League school which puts them in an elite group academically. This situation looks excessively bad to a small, private school like Lehigh.

arrested with charges like that. ESPECIALLY with a new, unknown employee.

I'd bet he's quietly moving g to the Lehigh Valley RTC.

Sonny would likely love to have his brother in the fold...

ADs might have something to say about it though.

Charges at most schools.

Bring him in and let the dust settle and then elevate him down the road? An RTC could keep him off the radar and provide an opportunity to show growth and so on. But also, and more importantly (selfishly) for us, we gain a great wrestling brain in the room. I say this knowing next to nothing about hiring coaches for RTC's, nor the SERTC budget, so apologies if that is a dumb idea ** Edited by Mekhi4Mayor at 7/30/2025, 11:59:30 AM

But I would think Robie would receive some feedback from the university if he hired someone questionable. This might be benign enough that they could look the other way with it technically being a separate entity. It's also worth asking if spending on Sasso is a worthwhile way to spend our limited funds, but that's a separate discussion from if we could out couldn't

Then wrestling will be so far off the schools radar - Especially with reduction in his charges. And I've got to imagine if Robie were to vouch for him, they would listen. Plus, I would imagine we (or whoever does pick him up) could get him at a discount considering the current situation. I don't mean low-ball offer - don't disrespect him - but if we have enough to offer a decent salary along with an amazing opportunity to stay in the sport with a quality program, and be around to help his brother? That would be an enticing offer for me at least

gun for protection. However, it sounds like he was being a bit irresponsible with respect to carrying weaponry, particularly with controlled substances. He'll get some nice fines and he'll likely clean up some PA roadsides, but this doesn't seem all that big a deal (to me at least)

I think I read the drug charges were for weed or THC vape which was legal to possess in other states but not in PA. It's a shame it cost him his job at Lehigh but they probably have some sort of zero tolerance policy. I'm optimistic that you are right and the punishment won't be too harsh.

I'm just fine—policy or not—with a lack tolerance in this case. This isn't simple, excusable ignorance. He was being stupid.

No indication he was charged with anything beyond possession.

Firearms secured in the trunk would not be considered "concealed", at least in Virginia as I understand it. Maybe the laws in PA are different, but that would surprise me a little. Maybe they "became" illegal based on the other circumstances (namely the drugs). In any regard....if the reports (that he held a CCW permit in Ohio, that he had an Rx for weed/THC), it sounds like a decent lawyer will be able to make almost all of this go away. He should have handled all of that business the right way for sure....not excusing it.

makes any argument for the guns being allowed null and void. It really sucks for him but he's from Nazareth you can't blame ignorance on it, he knew he had expired tags with illegal drugs (even if it's just weed) with illegal guns (even if they were legal in a different state).

I understand why he had everything else, and yes he was stupid. The pain from getting shot like in the spine must still be excruciating, and I wouldn't step foot out of my house without a firearm if I was shot during a carjacking...probably more than one. Beretta, Glock, FN and Walther...he had good taste in firearms.

one gun in the car and three in a backpack in the trunk makes any sense. And I get that someone with his history might have fears that aren't understandable, but c'mon.

I don't know how long he had been in PA. Was it days, weeks, months? If it was days or a couple of weeks maybe he just hadn't fully secured housing yet. I dunno. But I've certainly had 4 guns in my trunk before.... edit....I see this has sort of been hashed out below. ** Edited by JoesterVT at 7/29/2025, 8:22:57 PM

He's new to PA and has been involved in a variety of activities setting up his new life. After having just helped my 24 year old daughter with this type of thing, there are a lot of things kids this age just don't know about ... or know how to be efficient in setting things up. Utility hook ups, internet, car registration, car inspection, apartment leases, acquiring new license, applying for CCW permit in a new state ... heck, even filling out a W-4 form for a new job and setting up direct deposit is unknown to a lot of people this age. Throw in the added issue of anxiety issues and pain management and I can easily see some things not being taken care of in a timely manner. Doesn't excuse the carelessness of not jumping through all of the hoops correctly, especially when guns are concerned, but certainly his situation doesn't necessarily sound all that reckless to me. And clearly he isn't opposed to doing what is necessary to register his guns as he's already done that once in Ohio. Maybe he was coming from a gun range. Maybe he was simply transporting them from a temporary address to his new address. Maybe he got bad information about how much time he had to get certain things done. Who knows? But 3 legally owned guns in the trunk of his car doesn't sound reckless as they aren't even remotely accessible while driving. They are in a backpack locked in the trunk. I'm not a gun nut and I don't own a gun (and likely never will), but they seem pretty secure to me in that situation. Just my thoughts. ** Edited by HokieToph at 7/29/2025, 11:42:53 AM

And I don't think it was necessarily "reckless," just dumb and worthy of being cut loose...you want a job mentoring young men, you don't get caught up in a bundle of illegality like that. Not trying to judge his character overall...just assessing the situation...particularly from Lehigh's point of view.

had to, at the very least, suspend the hire until due process. Given the heated dialog regarding weapons these days, they just can't bring him on now. Might be a different scenario if he were already coaching there, but that is neither here nor there. There will be deserved legal consequences to this. My hope since it seems more dumb then reckless like you say is that it isn't more than a fine and some highway clean up

In that case, there would be some room for benefit of the doubt, suspension instead of termination, etc...but when this is how the guy shows up...the school understandably just moves on.

He could have been moving his firearms from Ohio to his new residence in PA.

given the story doesn't mention a search of anything but an OSU backpack...and no comments from Sasso like "I'm literally just moving in here, so I haven't had a chance to properly register/license anything"

They aren't necessarily going to include all the ancillary details. The reality is that there isn't enough information available to know motive or make a full judgement. At the end of the day it's a bad situation and should be left at that.

was at all compelling, it'd be in there...police report and story...along with the details of what he did (and didn't) disclose and consent to. Regardless, my original point stands...firing him seems absolutely like the right thing. He comes into a job showing that kind of lack of responsibility/judgment, you don't want him as a coach.

Specific to his side of the story, that doesn't always just come out immediately. I'd say most of the time, you just go through the legal process and get things settled up. Why put anything out in public before going through legal proceedings if it won't change any outcomes. Lehigh was never going to just overlook it for an assistant at that level that never really even made it to campus, so there is no upside to putting out a statement of any kind. Regarding the transport, if the extra guns were in his bag, unloaded (and potentially in the trunk), then there's no real issue there. That's exactly how he should be transporting them. I fully believe he was transporting them for the move, either as the first move or just hadn't removed the bag yet. He was announced as being hired on July 1. The arrest happened less than 3 weeks later. That timeline makes sense to me to be in the process of moving. It always comes out that having more than 1 gun is an arsenal, but 4 really isn't that many. When I've moved, I'm always nervous with the firearm movement, so they're usually the last things to go, outside of the CCW. Small amount of THC fluid for personal use, which seems to be extremely common, shouldn't spook people. He had a CCP for Ohio, but again, was just moving to PA, and his residency seemed to be up in the air, which causes issues with reciprocity. The expired tags in OH makes sense to me too...if I was about to move out of state and my tags expired, I'd probably wait until I got to the new state too! Not excusing any of it, but it mostly looks like inattention to detail, bad timing, and bad luck. Combined they look bad, but the headlines seem more like this is way bigger than the reality. "Unregistered car, multiple guns, and drugs" is a sinister tagline, but to me, doesn't fit the actual situation at all.

Since I have no knowledge of the subject. Is there a process for notifying authorities of the intent to move multiple forearms across state lines for the purposes of changing residence? Curious what the responsible gun owner thing to do is in this scenario? I hear that resp gun owner phrase a lot, but it seems to me that there are a lot of unresp ones that make it really hard on everyone else. TIA

Gun laws vary widely from state to state and even county (cities too) to county. There have been plenty of places pushing for gun registration, which would have required identification of their existence. There are specific, but few, states that require full registration of firearms, and localities in others that do as well. Being a responsible gun owner is not as simple as have license, will carry. Even having a federal license as a retired police officer and soldier, my dad can't carry through certain states, as they don't recognize it. Plenty of times, he stops at my house on a drive from FL to MA to drop off his firearm in my safe until he drives back through. Again, ignorance of the law doesn't excuse breaking it, but circumstances usually come into play during sentencing and whether a conviction is tossed after a period of good behavior. My guess is that most of this is ignorance, and with the limit information out there, does not appear to be malicious in any way. Hoping for probation that leads to a tossed conviction over a period of time. Too many folks out there that are terrified of firearms in general that get up in arms at their existence that see someone having more than one as a monster in waiting. Hoping that doesn't skew the process here.

Nor do I think he's a monster in waiting. I do, however, question why he (or anyone really) needs *four* handguns "for self defense" as the article posted above about the reduction in charges indicates.

If you are curious as to why someone might choose to buy multiple different firearms for self defense the answer is because they all have different characteristics. I don't think it's a stretch to say it's typical behavior for most people with CCWs.

I just bought a second car...my 2 cars have different characteristics for different situations...and I like cars. But I certainly don't need 2 cars (hell, I lived with zero for almost 4 years). But I like to have 2 cars. I would imagine it's similar with guns...we rationalize wants toward needs for stuff we enjoy. Want/need are just different places on a fuzzy continuum. My curiosity about multiple guns started above with the "I wouldn't step foot out of my house without a firearm if I was shot during a carjacking...probably more than one." That seems ridiculous. A carjacking isn't coming to any different conclusion with one inside the car vs. one inside plus 3 in the trunk. ** Edited by Pylons at 8/6/2025, 1:03:15 PM

I have multiple firearms for self defense. .410 pistol for close situations, SG for area defense, multiple standard pistols for carry (open or ccw) based on caliber sizes and the profile of the firearm itself. Difference situations call for different tools.

I went to VT, and stayed in Montgomery County for several years afterwards, and I honestly didn't know all the appropriate gun laws for the county (same goes for when I lived in Charlottesville for a couple years afterwards). Ignorance isn't to be fully excused, but the variety of gun laws even within a state makes being constantly up to speed a difficult task.

at the time of the arrest. He knew the weed laws (I still know the weed laws of the town I grew up in and I don't even smoke lol), knew he had expired tags, and even if he was uncertain about the gun laws he was still carrying them around. I don't think he's a bad person but I do think he probably had an idea that if he got pulled over it wouldn't be good.

I agree on all of this...the big thing is that separately, no one cares about a couple THC cartridges or an expired registration. The guns were the multiplier, which is why I focused on that. Glad things seem to be going in a direction that makes some sense for him though.

As long as what you're transporting is legal at the new destination.

You just have to look up the laws for each state you'll be going through on what their requirements are. Locked in the trunk unloaded, in a separate from ammo is typically the standard.

Thought they do require you notify an officer if they pulled you over and you had a firearm.

when other potential employers run background checks.