Miscellany

A former Tampa Bay Buccaneer whose arrest last year on cocaine charges was kept secret while he served as a government informant has now been charged with obstructing justice.

Patrick Franklin, a Buccaneer running back in 1986, was accused by federal prosecutors of faking a taped conversation with a federal drug agent to make it appear he was promised probation.

Franklin’s case began in March 1992, when he was arrested on charges of selling more than a pound of cocaine to a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, and arranging to sell four more.

The agent said Franklin was not booked into jail and in effect was “unarrested” after he offered to work as an informant.