Cheerleader Testifies in Henley Drug Case

A former Ram cheerleader testified Wednesday that she had been dating cornerback Darryl Henley about four months when he suggested she might earn some extra money by working for a friend in real estate who needed cash flown to different cities.

Tracy Ann Donaho, taking the stand for the first time as a key prosecution witness in the federal drug conspiracy trial against Henley, said she didn’t think much of the idea at first, and wondered why she would be paid $300 to $400 to make such a trip.

“It seemed like a lot of money for something simple to do,” she testified.

But two months later, in July, 1993, Donaho was under arrest on suspicion of carrying 12 kilograms of cocaine at an Atlanta airport.

Donaho spent much of her time on the witness stand in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana testifying about her relationship with Henley--from their first date of getting ice cream and watching television to a lavish trip to Las Vegas, arguments and talks of marriage and children.

“I was very excited that he seemed to be interested in me,” she testified under questioning from Assistant U.S. Atty. John Rayburn.

But Donaho said she also was nervous after their first date in February, 1993. He was 26. She was 19. There were rules against football players dating cheerleaders. It was also the first time either had been involved in an interracial relationship, she testified. Henley is African American and Donaho is white.

Still, the two continued seeing each other, even after Henley moved to Atlanta, and shared some good times, she testified.

Henley, considered one of the Rams’ best defensive players, was indicted in December, 1993, on federal charges of cocaine possession and conspiring to operate an illicit drug network from his home in Brea.

Prosecutors charge that Henley, 28, masterminded cross-country shipments of cocaine to Atlanta and Memphis using Donaho, who carried the drugs in her luggage on commercial airlines.

Henley and Donaho were among eight people indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the alleged drug ring. Four of those men are co-defendants with Henley in the trial, all represented by different attorneys.

Henley has vigorously maintained his innocence.

If convicted, Henley faces up to life in prison and up to $4 million in fines.