SLIPPERY ROCK — The lawyers representing three Slippery Rock University students accused of armed robbery say they are innocent and will fight the charges.

Julian Durden, 21, of Pittsburgh; Calvert Anderson, 23, of Johnstown; Robert Brown, 22, of Pittsburgh; and Quatrell Jones, 23, of Johnstown were all arrested by state police and charged with allegedly robbing Kessel Weber Nov. 19 in his apartment at The Grove in Slippery Rock Township.

Durden and Anderson were on the SRU football team but were immediately dismissed after their arrest.

All four, who are all SRU students, appeared Wednesday before District Judge Joseph O’Donnell. They waived their cases to court and got their bails reduced so they could be released from prison on unsecured bonds for Christmas.

The four men are charged with felony counts of burglary, robbery, conspiracy and theft by unlawful taking and misdemeanor counts of simple assault, terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person and harassment.

Sally Frick, the attorney for Anderson, declined to comment on the charges.

Scott Westcott, the attorney for Brown, said he is an “outstanding young man” and that there are “tremendous flaws” in the state’s case.

Westcott said Brown has an alibi for the time the robbery occurred, a phone conversation with his mother, and the person who identified him to police was someone he had met only once.

“He is vehemently denying that he had anything to do with it,” he said.

Dennis McCurdy, the court-appointed attorney for Jones, said it is “outrageous” to think a college senior with no prior criminal history would be involved with such serious criminal activity. He said they will fight the charges in court.

“There are a lot of reasons to challenge the sufficiency of evidence in this case,” he said.

Eric Jobe, the attorney representing Durden, said his client is accused of committing a robbery while wearing a mask and was identified by voice alone. This is unreliable evidence because he does not have a distinctive sounding voice, he said.

“It’s a classic case of mistaken identity,” Jobe said.

The four also face a second batch of charges stemming from drugs and drug paraphernalia that state police confiscated when searching their shared apartment in Slippery Rock Township.

Jones and Durden are charged with a count of felony manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance.

According to the criminal complaint by Trooper Michael Taylor, police found in the apartment two bags of marijuana in a duffel bag with Durden’s name on it and five plastic bags containing marijuana in a backpack with Jones’ social security card in it.

All four also face misdemeanor counts of intentional possession of a controlled substance and use or possession of drug paraphernalia.

Assistant district attorney Russ Karl declined to comment on the cases.

The students, who have been in prison for more than a month, were banned from campus following the arrests and will face internal discipline, according to SRU.