Former NFL wide receiver Terrelle Pryor is facing a drug possession charge after Monroeville police say they found a small baggie of a powdery substance during a May 24 traffic stop on Mosside Boulevard. Officers allege the plastic bag contained a powder suspected to be MDMA, leaving the Jeannette native and former pro player staring at a new criminal possession case tied to that late May stop.
What police say
According to police, officers pulled over a black Mercedes for speeding and noticed someone in the back seat. When they asked the driver to lower the windows, they said they found Pryor lying in the rear of the car, breathing heavily. Officers reported seeing a rifle on the vehicle floor and told Pryor to step out. As he reached for his wallet to show a concealed-carry permit, police say they discovered a baggie holding a powdery substance suspected to be MDMA. The possession allegation is laid out in the criminal complaint, as reported by WPXI.
Pryor’s legal history
This is not Pryor’s first run-in with the legal system. In 2019, he was stabbed during a domestic incident at the Heinz Lofts on Pittsburgh’s North Side and later pleaded guilty to harassment, receiving 90 days of unsupervised probation, according to local reporting. That episode and its court resolution remain part of Pryor’s public record and were widely covered by regional outlets. WTAE reported on the guilty pleas and probation terms.
Other recent incidents and civil claims
Pryor has also faced other legal trouble since then. In 2021, he was arrested and charged with counts including simple assault, harassment, and damaging property after an alleged domestic dispute in Westmoreland County. That arrest and the related court paperwork were reported locally and are part of a string of incidents that have followed Pryor’s post-NFL life. WPXI covered the 2021 matter.
Crash lawsuits in 2025
Separately, Pryor was sued late in 2025 after an alleged crash on Pittsburgh’s South Side in which plaintiffs say a Cybertruck he was driving struck an SUV that flipped and sent three people to the hospital. The civil complaints filed by the crash victims allege negligence and are pending in court, adding a civil dimension to Pryor’s recent legal exposure. Local reporting on the suits and the May 31 collision is available. WTAE reported on the lawsuits and the traffic footage cited by plaintiffs.
Legal context
MDMA, commonly called ecstasy or Molly, is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance at the federal level. Possession or distribution charges are handled differently depending on the amount seized and the jurisdiction. How prosecutors choose to charge the case, along with whether laboratory testing confirms the substance, will determine whether any offense is graded as a misdemeanor or a felony and what penalties could apply. Federal and scientific sources list MDMA as Schedule I, and federal compound records provide the official scheduling classification. PubChem (NIH) provides the federal scheduling classification for MDMA.
What happens next
Monroeville police and local prosecutors will handle the criminal case from here. The initial reporting on the stop and the criminal complaint identifies the possession allegation but does not include any final court action or sentencing. As with any criminal matter, charges are accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. This story will be updated if court records, official statements or new filings become available.
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