Smael Mondon Jr.'s driving charges dismissed: Latest update on Georgia LB's reckless driving incident

The Georgia Bulldogs' preparations for the upcoming season where they were ranked No. 1 in the AP Preseason Top 25 Poll have been repeatedly disrupted due to various player arrests. As per the latest update, they had received 29 counts of player citations for offenses, including racing, reckless driving and battery.

Senior linebacker Smael Mondon Jr. and freshman Demello Jones were arrested on July 10 for racing and reckless driving. On Monday, Mondon pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count in Athens-Clarke County Municipal Court and had his charges dismissed.

He attended victim impact classes and defensive driving classes alongside paying a $500 fine, according to his attorney Billy Healan.

"We feel like this was the appropriate resolution," Healan said. "Smael accelerated too fast, but he was not racing and wasn't reckless. He has paid his fine, and he is ready to move on from here. Smael is scheduled to graduate in December and had no prior traffic incidents."

Georgia coach Kirby Smart compared to Urban Meyer due to arrests

The Florida Gators under coach Urban Meyer were the toast of college football in the late 2000s after winning two national championships. However, that run was punctuated with several disciplinary issues, including arrests as documented in the popular television series, "Swamp Kings."

The Georgia Bulldogs first entered the news due to the fatalities of recruitment officer Chandler LeCroy and prospect Devin Willock in January last year due to a fatal crash that resulted from a race just hours after a parade celebrating their national championship.

Smart's Georgia has been compared to Urban Meyer's Florida Gators by CBS college football analyst Josh Pate due to the indiscipline that has permeated the highly successful team.

For his part, Smart addressed the issue during the SEC media days detailing the steps that Georgia will take against the prospects.

“The incidents that we’ve had off the field are not something that we condone,” Smart said. “It’s very unfortunate. Disappointing I guess is the best word. I always talk about process and outcomes. I talked about that with wins and losses that we try not to base things on the outcomes with wins and losses. In this situation, the outcomes are very disappointing.

“We’ll have suspensions coming out of some of these. I think everybody wants to know, what game and are they suspended? That’s probably an important things in terms of the discipline, the culture that they get to experience."

The Georgia Bulldogs still have a long way to prove that they are not a reincarnation of Urban Meyer's Florida Gators who received 31 arrests during their heyday.