Henley Is Convicted in Drug Case : Trial: Ram cornerback faces 10-year minimum term. Appeal is planned. Co-defendants, including uncle, also found guilty.

Ram cornerback Darryl Henley was convicted Tuesday of conspiring to run a cocaine trafficking ring by jurors who said they had wrestled with the question of how a success such as Henley could get caught up in a life of crime.

Henley and four co-defendants, including an uncle of Henley, were found guilty of drug conspiracy and possession charges. He faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

The 28-year-old football player bowed his head and bit his lip as the verdict was read in U.S. District Court. Henley was led away in handcuffs, still biting his lower lip.

“He was stunned,” said defense attorney Gerald Chaleff. “We were all stunned.”

Chaleff vowed to appeal. “He wasn’t involved in drug dealing. Period,” Chaleff said.

One juror wept as he walked from the courthouse at the close of the two-month trial. Several said they hated to send a young, successful man to a federal penitentiary. But after four days of deliberation, jurors found the prosecution’s case convincing.

“I feel bad,” said juror Shawn O’Reilly, a 41-year-old truck driver. “I don’t like to see anyone go to jail. But you deal in misery. Cocaine ruins a lot of lives.”

“Why would someone so successful get involved in something like this?” said a juror named Dave, who declined to reveal his last name. “That was the No. 1 reason people had a hard time. . . . The guy was making upward of $600,000 a year.”

Henley’s former teammates and coaches greeted news of the conviction with disbelief.

“I’m speechless,” said safety Anthony Newman, Ram defensive team captain. “When I walked in the door and found out, it was like my heart had broken in half. I don’t stand up for anybody dealing in drugs or anything like that, but Darryl is like a brother to me and I don’t believe he had anything to do with it. And that’s what I will believe until the day I die.

“I’ve been around the guy for seven years. . . . I don’t care if they convicted him or not, no way.”

Joe Vitt, former Ram assistant head coach and now linebacker coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, said he felt sick.

“No matter what the verdict, based on my personal dealings with him I still have tremendous respect for him,” Vitt said. “I always found the guy to be extremely dependable. My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family.”

Ram President John Shaw declined to comment on the legal issues involved in the case but said in a written statement, “We feel great sadness for him as a person.”

Prosecutors alleged that Henley, one of the Rams’ best defensive players, helped mastermind a drug network that extended from his Brea home to Memphis and Atlanta.

Also convicted Tuesday on conspiracy and possession charges were:

* Henley’s uncle, Rex Henley, 31, of Rancho Cucamonga, accused of wrapping the cocaine in suitcases and helping transport couriers to the airport.

* Willie McGowan, 31, of Duarte, accused of pulling the drug deals together.

* Ralph Bustamante, 28, of Rancho Cucamonga, accused of supplying the cocaine.

* Garey West, 26, of Memphis, accused of selling the drugs.

All five face at least 10 years in prison, and Bustamante and West face additional time because of prior drug convictions. Sentencing is set for June 12 before U.S. District Judge Gary Taylor.

Bustamante and two other men are charged in a separate case with trying to extort $360,000 from Henley and his family for a drug payment.

“We are obviously pleased with the outcome and are pleased with the service of the jury,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Deirdre Z. Eliot said.

*

All five defendants denied any wrongdoing. In an interview last week, Henley said he would be surprised by a guilty verdict. He said he felt so certain he would not be convicted that he was spending his days up until the verdict scribbling in a note pad about his dreams for his next football contract.

Henley could face more than 10 years in prison depending on Taylor’s judgment about other factors in the case, including whether Henley played a key role in the drug conspiracy and the amount of cocaine involved, attorneys said. He also faces up to $4 million in fines.

Prosecutors accused Henley of using his fame to persuade a 19-year-old Ram cheerleader, Tracy Donaho, to carry cocaine-filled suitcases.

Donaho, who was arrested in an Atlanta airport in July, 1993, carrying 25 pounds of cocaine, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport cocaine and agreed to become a government witness during the trial. She testified that Henley, whom she dated for several months, paid her $1,000 to carry one suitcase to Memphis and a second suitcase to Atlanta. She said she believed she was carrying cash but acknowledged that she should have suspected that drugs might be involved.

Telephone records for more than 79 calls through the spring, summer and fall of 1993 connected Henley to the other defendants in the case, prosecutors said.

Henley’s attorneys said he was the victim of a “big con” by friends who took advantage of his name and generosity to run a cocaine ring out of his home without his knowledge.

They also accused Donaho of lying about Henley’s involvement in order to curry favor with prosecutors and win a lighter sentence.

Donaho’s lawyer, Stephan DeSales, said he was pleased that the jury apparently believed her testimony, adding, “it was absolutely clear she didn’t mastermind this whole thing.”

“We aren’t going to dance and sing in the street over Henley’s conviction,” he said. “But we are very happy she told the truth, and the jury believed her.”

*

Two jurors were dismissed during the trial, one because of work demands and the other after admitting he read a newspaper headline about the case. A third juror came under scrutiny after reporting that he read phrases from a newspaper article that detailed Henley’s possible sentence.

The judge decided Tuesday morning to keep the juror after the man said he could be fair in deliberating the case and would disregard what he read.

Outside of court Tuesday, jurors said they found the prosecution’s witnesses credible, especially in light of phone records that showed constant calls between Henley’s home and the other defendants.

Still, O’Reilly and other jurors said it was very difficult to send a young, successful man such as Henley to a federal penitentiary.

“It was real hard to do that to someone being an upstanding citizen like that but the evidence I saw . . . did it for me,” O’Reilly said.

“It’s not an easy decision,” said another juror, whose eyes filled with tears as he left court. “The decision you make, you got to live with the rest of your life.”

Times staff writer Lee Romney contributed to this report.