Centennial students accused of unlawful card use

CHAMPAIGN – Three Centennial High School students are accused of having and using a credit card illegally.

Arraigned Wednesday on felony charges of unlawful use of a credit card were Larry McGowan, 18, who listed an address in the 500 block of Bonnymeade Drive; Michael Locksley, 18, who listed an address in the 3100 block of Sandhill Lane; and Travis Underwood, 18, who listed an address in the 2500 block of West William Street.

Judge John Kennedy advised all three that they are accused of illegal use of the credit card on Oct. 18 and Oct. 20 at the Clark Oil station at 2401 W. Springfield Ave., C. McGowan and Underwood also are accused of receiving a stolen, lost or mislaid credit card.

All three pleaded innocent to the charges and are due to return to court Dec. 19 for pretrial hearings. All three were released on their own recognizance.

According to the Champaign County state's attorney's office, a foreign exchange student from Holland attending Centennial reported on Oct. 26 that her missing credit card was being used without her permission.

The credit card had been used 31 times between Oct. 18 and 21 at gas stations and restaurants for nearly $800 in charges, according to Champaign police Detective Lisa Staples.

The female foreign exchange student did not notice that her card was missing until contacted by her father about an unusually large bill, Staples said.

Staples said some of the businesses had security cameras, and the Clark gas station owner identified the users of the card as Centennial football players.

Centennial Athletic Director Brian Easter then identified the users as the three teens, according to Staples. The investigation is continuing, she said.

Locksley and Underwood were members of Centennial's football team.

Locksley also was the top scorer on the Charger basketball team last season and participated – along with several other football players – in tryouts for the basketball team on Monday. Those tryouts continued Tuesday, but Locksley was not present for that session.

Easter said Wednesday that Locksley's status for basketball has yet to be determined.

He said Centennial officials would meet with all three students "and assess the situation from the school's standpoint and move forward from there."

Under Champaign school district policy, the student code of conduct applies to actions that take place on school grounds, during school hours and at school-sponsored events.

The charges against the three students would have to be connected to the school in one or more of those ways before the school district would take any disciplinary action or rule a student ineligible for extracurricular activities such as athletics.

"The first thing we have to do is get all the facts," Easter said. "We're waiting till the kids get back to school and we can sort through everything.

"We have to look at how the incident tied into school and then, after that, a determination will be made on how it affects athletics (eligibility)."

News-Gazette staff writer Jeff Huth contributed to this report.

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