Henley Accused of Plotting to Kill Judge

Former professional football player Darryl Henley used cellular phones from his jail cell to try to arrange the contract killing of a federal judge and to have $1 million worth of heroin ferried cross-country by a jail guard, a federal prosecutor charged in court Tuesday.

The ex-Los Angeles Ram cornerback allegedly ordered hits on U.S. District Judge Gary L. Taylor, who was presiding when Henley was convicted of cocaine trafficking, and on a Ram cheerleader who was caught delivering drugs to Atlanta for Henley and testified against him in 1995.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Marc Harris said Henley used cellular phones smuggled to him by a guard to both orchestrate drug deals and hire a killer. In both cases, the deals were struck with undercover federal agents posing as criminals.

In a bail hearing Tuesday for guard Rodney Anderson, the prosecutor said federal agents had tape-recorded Henley discussing the heroin deal with an undercover agent as a way to finance the pair of $100,000 contract hits.

Anderson, a guard at the Metropolitan Detention Center since February 1994, knew about the planned hits and was using his “federal law enforcement connections” to track down the location of the former cheerleader, Harris said. Anderson, who was a guard on Henley’s floor, routinely provided him with a cell phone for use during his shift, Harris said.

Although the contract hits became a central issue in Tuesday’s court hearing, Harris said his office did not know if it had enough evidence to charge Henley with conspiring to kill Taylor.

“We have to make that decision,” he said.

Taylor declined to comment on the alleged contract. Former Ram cheerleader Tracy Ann Donaho could not be reached for comment. But her attorney, Stephan DeSales, said both he and his client were “warned” about the contract. “We’re aware of the potential threat. She’s protected,” he said.

Henley, 29, Anderson, 29, of Los Angeles, and Jimmy Washington, 49, Henley’s alleged Detroit drug connection, were arrested Saturday and are facing federal drug trafficking charges. The cases against them will be presented to a grand jury next week.

Anderson is being held in protective custody at an undisclosed location in Orange County. Henley also is being held at an undisclosed location following his transfer from the detention center, where he has been held while his attorneys have fought to win a new trial of his cocaine trafficking conviction.

Harris refused to reveal how federal agents became aware that Henley was involved in narcotics trafficking at the jail, where he has been an inmate since March 1995. Harris also declined to say whether Henley was involved in any other drug deals while in jail or has made any other threats.

“We do not contemplate any further arrests in connection with this heroin transaction. I think we got all the players,” Harris said.

The new charges are the second time Henley has been arrested for cross-country drug trafficking. In 1995, Henley was convicted of running a cocaine distribution network out of his Brea home, using Donaho, then 19, as a courier. Donaho, who was the key witness against Henley, was sentenced to four months in a halfway house and probation for her role.

Henley was awaiting sentencing and the outcome of post-trial motions at the downtown Los Angeles jail when federal agents learned of his new activities, authorities said.

According to court documents, Henley’s plans began unraveling when an undercover drug agent called him May 16 in his cell and offered “large quantities of ‘China White’ heroin and cocaine” for sale.

Henley, using cell phones provided by Anderson, called Washington in Detroit to arrange a meeting the next day between the undercover agent and Washington in a Riverside hotel.

Henley informed the agent that he was working with Anderson, a guard he had known “a long time” and that Anderson could deliver the narcotics to Detroit, using his status as a federal peace officer to avoid detection.

Two days later, undercover agents met with Anderson at a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport and arranged a test run: Anderson would pick up 1.5 kilograms of what he thought was heroin at the airport the next day and take it to Detroit. If the drug run went through without a hitch, a bigger deal would be arranged.

On May 20, Anderson took the bag to Detroit, handed it to an undercover agent and returned to Los Angeles.

The following day, Washington again met with undercover agents and arranged to buy $1 million worth of heroin, taking a small sample to Detroit for testing. Henley told the agents that Anderson would transport the drugs to Detroit and Washington would handle distribution in Detroit.

On May 22, Anderson called in sick to make the drug run, but the deal appeared to fall through when Washington and his Detroit connections could not come up with the cash, court records show.

During another phone call on May 23, Henley told an undercover agent he would “speak with Washington regarding the transaction,” court records show.

The next day, prison officials confiscated Henley’s cell phone. Anderson was arrested May 24 at Ontario International Airport delivering a bag of heroin to an undercover agent. Washington and two others were later arrested in Detroit.

Anderson, who had worked at the facility since February 1994, was put on paid administrative leave by jail officials on the day before his arrest, said Linda Thomas, the center’s spokeswoman. He had no prior record of problems, she said.

Anderson previously worked as a temporary employee for two years with the U.S. Marshal’s Service in Los Angeles where he “did administrative functions and helped in the cell block with feeding prisoners,” said Assistant Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Charles Almanza.

“He had no credentials of any type as a peace officer,” Almanza said.

MDC Warden W.H. Seifert and Associate Warden Lee Vaughn refused to answer questions about the arrests.

It was the second time since March that a jail guard at the Los Angeles center has been charged with aiding an inmate by smuggling in a cell phone. In the previous case, a 10-year corrections veteran pleaded guilty to charges related to supplying a phone, a fax machine, a small computer, electrical cords and drugs to a prisoner for a fee.

Thomas said that “with more than 300 employees, it’s unfortunate that things like this do happen. . . . We have to have some trust in our employees. We don’t want to have to search every employee.”

Thomas said the jail is not changing any policies as a result of the arrests.

Defense attorney Irene P. Ayala, appointed to represent Anderson during his bail hearing, said the prosecution’s surprise announcement about the alleged contract hit plots are found nowhere in the criminal complaint filed against her client.

“We were blindsided,” Ayala said. “It was out of the blue. They’ve offered no evidence. It doesn’t appear in any of the documents. . . . It’s unfair to [Anderson].”

Harris said he brought up the issue of the plots only after Anderson’s attorney pushed to have the jail guard released from custody. At an earlier hearing in the day for Henley, Harris did not raise the issue of any murders for hire.

Henley, a former UCLA star and a standout kick returner for the Rams, declared Tuesday that he is indigent and cannot afford an attorney to represent him. U.S. Magistrate Judge Rosalyn M. Chapman granted the shackled athlete’s request.

Henley was convicted 14 months ago today of conspiring to run an interstate cocaine trafficking ring, and faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in a federal prison. Convicted with him were his uncle and three other co-defendants who were supplying the cocaine or helping prepare it for shipment via airplane luggage to Atlanta and Memphis. Before Henley could be sentenced for that conviction, his attorneys filed motions demanding a new trial, alleging juror misconduct and raising issues of possible attempts to bribe a juror.

Henley has been held without bail at the detention center while his attorneys and federal prosecutors wrangled over the retrial motion.

That motion was pending before Judge Taylor when prosecutors secured a guilty plea from one of the excused jurors who said in a detailed court statement that he conspired with Henley to bribe another sitting juror to vote not guilty.

When the bribery scheme fell through, the excused juror, Michael D. Malachowski of San Bernardino, said he then conspired with Henley to fabricate allegations of jury tampering to help Henley win a new trial.

Malachowski pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for offering a $50,000 bribe--on Henley’s behalf, he swore in his statement--to get one member of Henley’s jury to plead not guilty. Malachowski has yet to be sentenced for his crime.

* COLLEAGUES STUNNED: Charges against guard dumbfound law enforcement. A13

* CELL PHONES BARRED: Cell phones now among hottest items of prison contraband. A13

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Henley Sting

Former Ram cornerback Darryl Henley, convicted 14 months ago of running an interstate drug trafficking network, has allegedly been involved in dealing drugs from his jail cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles. Henley, outside contact Jimmy Washington and MDC Officer Rodney Anderson were reeled in by a Drug Enforcement Agency sting using undercover DEA agents. After a series of phone calls and meetings involving agents and the three suspects, here’s how the sting came down:

May 20: Anderson, the detention center guard, picks up fake heroin from DEA agent at Los Angeles International Airport’s Northwest Airlines terminal, boards Northwest flight to Detroit. The next day he delivers it to another undercover agent and returns to Los Angeles.

May 21: Agent meets Washington at Hilton Hotel in Rancho Cucamonga; they agree on larger deal and Washington takes sample for Detroit customers. Agent calls Henley; Henley confirms he wants deal and that Anderson will make delivery

May 22: Agent meets with Anderson at Los Angeles airport to discuss heroin transportation.

May 23: Agent calls Henley twice; they discuss lowering price and other details. Henley confirms he will speak to Washington, who is working with Detroit connection. The next day, MDA confiscates Henley’s cellular phone; Washington and Anderson are arrested two days later.

Source: U.S. attorney’s office