After being cleared of felony rape and kidnapping charges in Ohio, Josh Sills, a backup offensive lineman for the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles, will rejoin the team’s active roster.
This is a 2022 photo of Josh Sills of the Philadelphia Eagles NFL football team. On Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, Sills was acquitted of felony rape and kidnapping charges in Ohio. He will be returning to the Eagles’ active roster. (Source: AP Photo, File)
Trial Pleads Not Guilty
In a published report from AP news, after roughly three hours of deliberation, the Guernsey County jury returned not-guilty verdicts on both counts on Friday. When the court gave Sills, 25, the chance to thank the panel, he stood up right away with no reaction to the verdicts being read.
I’d like to thank my family for being there for me ever since,” he stated. Michael Connick, the defense attorney, said the verdict “ends a nearly four-year nightmare for the Sills family, and particularly Josh.” Josh Sills stated, “I have done nothing wrong, and I’m glad that was proven today.”
A county grand jury indicted the Sarahsville, Ohio, native on January 31, accusing him of engaging in extramarital affairs and keeping a lady against her will on December 5, 2019. According to a statement from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, the county sheriff’s office conducted a thorough investigation once the charge was immediately made.
Player Sills Will Return to the Team After the Not Guilty Plea
Yost issued a statement following the verdict that read, “I still believe the victim.” However, in America, a conviction for a crime must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury did not notice it, and I am grateful to them for upholding the law.
Undrafted free agent Sills, a 6-foot-6, 325-pound player at West Virginia and Oklahoma State, had one appearance this season. He was ineligible to practice, play, or travel with the Philadelphia Eagles as they prepared for their Super Bowl battle against the Kansas City Chiefs because he was placed on the NFL commissioner’s exempt list after being indicted.
Following the verdict, Sills was taken off the exempt list, the Eagles stated in a statement, “and he will return to the team’s active roster.”
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