Former Ohio State football players Amir Riep and Jahsen Wint entered not guilty pleas to charges of rape and kidnapping on Friday in the Franklin (Ohio) County Court.
Both men’s attorneys told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer they expect a judge to be assigned to the case on Monday, and both remain enrolled at the university at this time.
Riep was a rising senior cornerback from Cincinnati with 40 career appearances. Wint was a fifth-year senior safety from Brooklyn with 35 career games.
The pair were charged with felony rape and kidnapping on Feb. 11 and dismissed from the Buckeyes’ football team the next day. A grand jury indicted Riep and Wint on Feb. 21.
The victim says she visited an apartment Riep and Wint shared on Feb. 4 and began having consensual sex with Riep. After the woman attempted to stop the intercourse, Wint entered the room and, she alleges, Riep grabbed the woman by the neck, forced her to her hands and knees and raped her, while Wint forced her to perform oral sex on him.
The victim then says Riep forced her to say the actions were consensual on a video recording.
Both men’s attorneys have argued their clients are innocent of all charges.
If convicted, both men face up to 33 years in prison. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has said the pair will not return to the team even if acquitted.
“I get where we are in the courts, but in a university setting — to derail their careers over one woman’s false allegation — it stinks. It’s rotten to the core,” Wint’s attory Sam Shamansky told the paper.
