Rams’ Henley Is Indicted on Drug Charges
A federal grand jury indicted Rams cornerback Darryl Henley and former team cheerleader Tracy Donaho on Thursday on charges of cocaine possession and conspiring to operate an illicit drug network that involved cross-country narcotics shipments.
The indictment identifies Henley, Donaho and three others as participants in a conspiracy to transfer two shipments of cocaine last summer from Henley’s home in Brea to drop-off points in Atlanta and Memphis, using the 20-year-old Donaho as a courier.
A warrant for Henley’s arrest was issued Thursday, and Carl E. Douglas, his attorney, said the professional football player would surrender to authorities before a 2 p.m. arraignment today in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. Douglas said that he had still not seen the indictment late Thursday and could not comment on the case.
Donaho was also expected to surrender and appear at today’s scheduled arraignment. Her attorney did not return several calls for comment.
Besides Henley and Donaho, the federal grand jury also indicted Rafael (Ralph) Bustamante, 28, identified as the supplier of “multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine” to Henley.
The other two charged were Willie Haghey McGowan, 30, of Duarte, accused of packaging the drugs in suitcases for Donaho to carry on her cross-country flights, and Gary West, 30, of Memphis, accused of meeting Donaho in Tennessee and picking up about nine pounds of cocaine.
A federal judge issued a warrant for McGowan’s arrest Thursday. West is in a Memphis jail on an unrelated charge, and Bustamante had already been arrested on related extortion allegations.
In October, Bustamante and two other individuals were indicted on charges of extortion. The indictment said they threatened to kill Henley if he did not pay $360,000 that Bustamante claimed he was owed for a cocaine delivery.
The grand jury re-indicted Bustamante, Alejandro Figueroa Cuevas and James Timothy Saenz on those extortion charges Thursday, so that all defendants could be tried together. Their trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday.
Court records indicate that Bustamante, Cuevas and a friend of Henley’s known as Eric Manning confronted Henley at gunpoint in September at the Rams’ practice facility in Anaheim and demanded payment for a cocaine shipment.
Henley later reported to police that the men stole his white 1992 Lexus 400 SE, as well as a Glock 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun Henley kept in the car, after the confrontation. Some hours later, Manning was shot to death outside his Covina apartment, and 9-millimeter shell casings were found near his body. Neither Bustamante, Cuevas nor Henley has been connected to the slaying.
In Thursday’s indictment, Henley and Donaho were both charged with one count of conspiracy and one count of intent to distribute cocaine. They face possible life sentences and $8 million in fines if convicted on both counts. The extortion charges against the other three carry maximum prison terms of 20 years and fines as high as $250,000.
“The indictment alleges that this was a sophisticated drug trafficking ring that extended from Southern California to . . . Tennessee and Georgia,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Deirdre Z. Eliot said. “Darryl Henley allegedly played an integral role.”
Henley was the Rams starting cornerback this year until he left the team in October, after the disclosure that he was the target of a criminal investigation. Through statements issued by his former attorneys, Henley has maintained his innocence.
Team officials declined comment in a prepared statement Thursday. An NFL spokesman said the league had been notified, but would have nothing to say about Henley’s indictment.
Several of Henley’s teammates expressed surprise about the charges.
“I can’t imagine it,” said Willie (Flipper) Anderson, who has known Henley since they played football together at UCLA. “Being the athletes we are, and making the money we do, it’s hard to see anybody getting involved in something like that. It’s a shame.”
Federal authorities began investigating Henley in July, after Donaho attracted the attention of federal narcotics investigators by paying cash for a one-way ticket from Ontario International Airport to Atlanta on a pre-dawn flight. Such a purchase is a tip-off that a passenger may be carrying drugs, officials say.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents were waiting to question Donaho when she landed at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport. She disavowed ownership of a suitcase she had checked with the airline and was permitted to leave the airport. DEA agents got a search warrant to examine the contents of the suitcase and found 12 kilograms, or 26.4 pounds, of cocaine inside.
Later that day, Donaho returned to claim the bag and was arrested. Henley, who maintains a home in Atlanta, was with her at the time, but was not arrested because his possible connections were unknown.
Federal charges against Donaho were dropped four days after her arrest, but authorities retained the right to file charges against her.
According to court documents, Donaho told federal agents that Henley had approached her earlier in the year with an offer to make money by transporting cash in suitcases for McGowan. The indictment alleges that Henley asked Donaho to meet McGowan at Henley’s home in Brea on July 2 and carry a suitcase on a flight from Burbank to Memphis.
In Memphis, West allegedly met Donaho and drove her to an apartment in the city, where she deposited the suitcase containing four kilos of cocaine. West gave Donaho air fare back to California and picked up the suitcase at the apartment the next day, authorities said.
The indictment alleges that Henley paid Donaho $1,000 for delivering the suitcase.
The Atlanta shipment was handled in roughly the same manner, according to the indictment. Henley allegedly asked Donaho to carry a suitcase on July 15 on a flight from Ontario to Atlanta. The indictment alleges that Bustamante and Manning delivered 12 kilograms of cocaine to Henley’s Brea home and that McGowan instructed her, through Manning, to check the suitcase through the airport baggage handlers rather than carrying it aboard the flight.
After news of the criminal investigation surfaced in early October, Henley left the team. The Rams requested and received a roster exemption, signing free-agent cornerback Wymon Henderson to replace Henley. Henley, who is earning $275,000 in the option year of his contract, has been paid during the leave.
Rams safety Michael Stewart said the loss of Henley “is almost like losing a brother.”
“You lose a brother and naturally it’s going to have an impact on you,” he said.
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Times staff writer Mike Reilley contributed to this report.