Officer Booked in Irvin Plot

Nearly four months after Dallas Cowboy wide receiver Michael Irvin was arrested in an Irving, Texas, motel room in the company of cocaine, marijuana and two topless dancers, the standout offensive star found himself in the center of a twist in the case that could only be called bizarre.

A Dallas police officer subpoenaed to testify in Irvin’s drug possession trial was arrested Thursday after trying to hire a hit man to kill the Cowboy receiver, police Chief Ben Click said.

Johnnie Hernandez, 28, a five-year veteran of the force, was arrested on a charge of solicitation of capital murder and bribery one day after he paid “several thousand dollars,” according to Click, as a down payment to an undercover agent posing as a hit man.

Bail was set at $250,000 on the solicitation count and $2,500 on the bribery charge, a jail spokesman said. If convicted, he faces up to 99 years in prison.

Click declined to give details about a possible motive, citing a gag order in Irvin’s case.

“They did come to an agreement on a price,” Click told the Associated Press. “The officer did make a partial payment--a large sum of money.”

Click said the deal was made in a shopping center parking lot and that “the officer” wanted the hit very soon.

“I cannot talk about motive at this point,” said Click, who also said Hernandez had resigned.

Irvin declined to comment as he drove up to the Cowboys’ Valley Ranch practice facility, accompanied by five men.

“I don’t have anything to say,” he said. “I’m just going for a workout.”

The arrest of Hernandez was the end of a public integrity investigation that started this week after police learned of the scheme.

“It makes me feel terrible,” Click said. “It’s one of those things you’d never think you’d see.”

Irvin, 30, could receive a maximum 20-year prison sentence if he is convicted of the second-degree felony cocaine possession charge. Irvin also is charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession.

He was indicted along with topless dancers Jasmine Jennipher Nabwangu, 22, and Angela Renee Beck, 21, who were in an Irving motel room March 4 when police were summoned by the night manager.

Beck was the only one arrested that night. She told police the drugs were hers. Alfredo Roberts, a former teammate of Irvin’s with the Cowboys, also was in the room, but he has not been indicted.

Nabwangu and Beck will be tried later.

KXAS-TV, quoting unidentified sources, reported that Hernandez lives in the Dallas suburb of Cedar Hill with a woman named Rochelle Smith. The station also reported that Hernandez once lived with Angela Beck, and that two people, Dennis Pedini and Anthony Montoya, met with Smith and Irvin one night to discuss her grand jury testimony.

After that, Hernandez reportedly got angry and decided he would put out a hit.

The third day of jury selection in Irvin’s trial was Thursday in Dallas. Prosecutor Shannon Ross told 57 prospective jurors that they could not be affected by the “aura” surrounding the Cowboys.

“The decision needs to be based solely on the evidence in the case,” she said.

When Ross asked if there were any Cowboy fans in the room, 28 raised their hands. Four said they either could not or were unsure if they would be able to put aside their feelings for Irvin if selected as a juror.

Defense lawyer Royce West questioned the jury pool and used an analogy between the children’s game “hot potato” and the definition of “possession” and “control” under Texas law.

However, West’s analogy didn’t work so well. It drew questions from the jury pool, the prosecution objected and State District Judge Manny Alvarez finally stepped in.

“I never played hot potato,” he said. “This is confusing the jury. It’s confusing me.”

After a 15-minute sidebar between Alvarez and the seven lawyers involved in the case, West dropped his hot potato analogy.

The hearing is scheduled to resume today. Irvin’s trial is expected to take up to three weeks.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.