Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux, was arrested Thursday evening in Gwinnett County and charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

Gwinnett police stopped Babineaux, 28, and another man, 25-year-old Aaron Robinson of Minneapolis, about 10:45 p.m. Thursday as they drove north on I-85 in Babineaux’s 2005 Cadillac Escalade EXT. An officer searched the SUV after he noticed the distinct odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle and found a total of 40 grams of the drug in three separate bags.

In addition to the possession charges, Babineaux was charged with having no tag light, driving without a license and with an expired tag. He also was charged with tinting his car windows too dark.

Babineaux posted a bond of $5,700 and was released from Gwinnett County jail at approximately 5 a.m. Friday morning. He attended practice Friday amidst rumors that he may be pulled from paying in Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints.

Atlanta Falcon’s Jonathan Babineaux

Since Babineaux’s arrest falls under the NFL’s substance abuse policy, he could be facing a four-game suspension whether if he’s convicted or not but the Falcons allowed him to return to the field yesterday, just days after his arrest.

Falcons coach Mike Smith explained that the organization is disappointed but will let the league & legal system handle the issue accordingly:

First and foremost, anytime any of our guys show up in a negative light, I am and we are as an organization disappointed.

With that said, this is a process that the league and the legal system goes through. We are going to let that process run its course.

This is quite surprising, considering the Mike Vick controversy but I guess this was an important game.

According to the Associated Press, this is not Babineaux’s first incident with the law. Babineaux was arrested by Gwinnett County police on Feb. 19, 2007 after his girlfriend, Blair Anderson, said she’d found her 1 1/2 year old pit bull, Kilo, in “severe physical distress” after she’d left him with Babineaux following an argument at their home.

In that case, Babineaux was cleared in November 2007 of a felony charge of animal cruelty after Gwinnett prosecutors found there was lack of evidence proving his involvement in the death of a dog. Hopefully he’ll be able to convince those same prosecutors to *cough* lose this evidence as well…

(Source 1 and 2)