Former Texans football star Mario Williams is at the center of a controversy that has shut down a local law enforcement academy. Effective immediately, Lone Star College is no longer allowed to conduct any new law enforcement training.
Our sources say it all started with allegations that Williams graduated without completing the required course work.
Williams is well on his way to becoming a law enforcement officer in Texas. He has the diploma to prove it.
But right now, state regulators are investigating if Lone Star College gave him special treatment to help him get that degree.
With six months of hard work finally paying off, a recent cadet class at the Lone Star Law Enforcement Academy was all smiles at last week's graduation ceremony. But this class is missing a very famous face -- former Texan and No. 1 overall draft pick Mario Williams.
Williams graduated early. He managed to complete the 660 hour course in just four months, nearly two months ahead of his classmates. He made an Instagram post on May 18 showing him at a Montgomery County Constable's Office and wrote, "Sworn in."
"How was he able to get through the program faster?" we asked academy instructor Larry Stewart.
"They made a schedule that he would do at night and weekends. That allowed him to do it a little faster than others," Stewart said.
In a recent radio interview, Williams was asked the same question.
"It's supposed to be six months, I actually did it in a condensed timeframe. I couldn't say an exact, day to day, but it was a four-month period I think. It was from the very beginning of the year. Man it was study after study, test after test. It was a load," he said.
Williams instructors told us at last week's graduation that the football star tackled the work like a pro.
"Was he there everyday in the classroom with everybody?" we asked Stewart.
"He was in the class there everyday," Stewart said.
"He did the full 660 hours of classroom instruction?" we asked.
"Yes. Yes," he said.
"What was it like spending 660 hours of classroom time with Mario Williams?" we asked class valedictorian Brad Hoover said.
"The first day, when he walked in, he could barely fit through the door. So that was intimidating," Hoover said.
