After being accused of stealing $4 from one ISU student and a cell phone from another, Jason Berryman, the 2003 Most Valuable Player for the ISU football team, remains in the Story County Jail.

If Berryman, freshman in general undergraduate studies, stays in jail through Monday, he will have spent 21 days in jail for two charges of robbery and two charges of theft, all felony charges. Robbery convictions could carry with them 10-year prison terms and fines.

According to court records, he is scheduled to be arraigned at 1 p.m. Monday in Nevada.

Berryman was arrested Aug. 4, after police investigated a complaint from two ISU students. The students said a man in a green retro basketball jersey confronted them as they came around a corner on Lynn Avenue about 2 a.m.

One of the students, Jeffrey Kemble, junior in health and human performance, was reportedly punched by the man over his left eye and told to empty his pockets. The man in the jersey then took $4 from Kemble.

Thomas Peters, junior in mechanical engineering, who had been on a cell phone when the incident occurred, was told to give over the phone. After questioning Kemble and Peters, officers searched the area for the person that the two described. They identified Berryman after knocking on the door of a nearby apartment. Upon entering, they found both the green jersey and Peters’ cell phone.

Throughout Berryman’s incarceration, his attorney, Joseph Cahill, has tried to rally support against Berryman’s bail, which was set at $25,000. On Aug. 16, Cahill filed an application with the Story County attorney’s office, asking Story County Judge Carl Baker to reduce the bail.

Eight people who know Berryman, including an ISU coach, provided character letters in the effort to reduce the bail.

Cahill listed Berryman’s status as a scholarship student at Iowa State as one reason to reduce the bail. He said irreparable damage would be caused if Berryman was not allowed to attend classes at the beginning of the fall. Cahill also argued that Berryman’s scholarship would be jeopardized if he failed to appear for the arraignment, indicating Berryman had an to follow court regulations.

But Baker ruled against lowering the bail on Aug. 17. Berryman’s criminal record; his lack of family ties in Iowa and the nature of his offenses were factors cited in Baker’s decision.

“The allegations setting out the nature and circumstances of the offenses charged are serious,” Baker wrote in his decision.

The Story County Attorney’s Office was also against lowering the bail. Story County Attorney Stephen Holmes said $25,000 bail is normal for situations like Berryman’s.

“It’s a serious crime,” Holmes said.

“In our view on the matter, the bail in Mr. Berryman’s case is no different than anyone else’s bail that would have been set under similar circumstances.”

Berryman is currently on probation after pleading guilty to criminal mischief in the fifth degree for a May 2004 incident. Neither Baker nor Holmes linked that incident to the amount of Berryman’s bail.

Holmes cited a case from less than a year ago in which four young men from Des Moines committed a series of robberies in Ames and were kept on very high bail.

“The other consideration that you look at is, ‘Who’s been robbed, who are the victims?'” Holmes said. “In this instance, we’ve got victims who were on the Iowa State campus; they were students. You have to consider the feelings and the safety of your victims, as well as where the person’s from, their ties to the community, their previous record.”

Cahill would not comment on the judge’s decision or the well-being of his client.

Originally charged only with one count of second degree robbery, Berryman now faces three additional charges, one of second degree robbery and two of first degree theft.

If convicted, Berryman could face anywhere up to 10 years in prison and fines between $1,000 and $10,000 for each of the robbery charges. Since robbery is classified as a forcible felony, Berryman would face a mandatory prison sentence and would have to serve 70 percent of it before becoming eligible for parole. If convicted, Berryman would not be eligible for parole.

The charges of theft carry similar sentences, but are not considered forcible felonies.

Berryman is suspended from the ISU football team pending the outcome of the legal process. In his true freshman season a year ago, the Houston native notched 110 tackles from his defensive end spot, the second-highest total on the squad.