PROVO — The reason former Brigham Young University defensive lineman Matangi Tonga left the team and withdrew from school in March was because he had been charged with six counts of burglary, all of them second-degree felonies.

Tonga had previously been suspended by BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall for what the coach called a violation of team rules.

BYU police worked on the case, an indication that the alleged crimes happened on campus.

On March 7, the Utah County attorney charged Matangi Tonga with six counts of burglary and one count of theft, a class B misdemeanor.

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Neither BYU police nor the county attorney's office would comment on the case Thursday. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 8.

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