CSUN Coach Arrested in Federal Drug Case

The women’s basketball coach at Cal State Northridge has been indicted on charges of conspiring to distribute at least 50 grams of crack cocaine in Omaha, the FBI announced Wednesday.

Michael J. Abraham, who has coached the team since 1995, was taken into custody without incident Tuesday night at a gymnasium on the university campus.

Dressed in the same gym trunks and jacket he was wearing when arrested, Abraham appeared before a federal magistrate Wednesday afternoon and was ordered released on $100,000 bail. He now faces extradition to Omaha for trial.

Law enforcement sources said Abraham’s arrest was an outgrowth of a two-year investigation into drug trafficking by Omaha’s street gangs. George Andrew, the special agent in charge of the FBI office in Omaha, called Abraham’s arrest part of “a very significant case.”

So far, more than 20 people have been arrested in the probe by a task force of FBI agents and members of the Omaha police street gang unit.

Omaha has long been fertile ground for Los Angeles-based drug traffickers. “Cocaine is very expensive here,” said Kevin Donlan, an Omaha police gang investigator. “You can make a lot of money by bringing it here from L.A. A kilo of cocaine that sells for $12,000 in Los Angeles can be resold in Omaha for $25,000.”

At the Northridge campus, Abraham’s players were stunned.

“I couldn’t believe it. It sounds like someone you’d see on the street, not your coach,” said freshman Leah Rice. “He’s the best coach I’ve been around. He makes us all feel at home. We go to his house and spend time with his family. We all baby-sit his daughter. His wife is wonderful. She cooks for us.”

Sarah Bell, a senior last season, said, “It doesn’t sound like it could be him. It’s very surprising.”

Federal authorities in Omaha declined to say how Abraham came under suspicion and they gave few details of the case, except that his alleged involvement in the conspiracy ended in January 1997, when investigators seized $53,000 in cash from a suspect at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield and three kilograms of cocaine at Burbank Airport.

U.S. Atty. Tom Monaghan said he will seek Abraham’s extradition to Omaha to face trial on a single count of conspiring to possess and sell crack cocaine. The charge carries a penalty of 10 years to life in prison if he is convicted.

Abraham was placed on paid administrative leave after his arrest. He was about to begin his fourth season as Northridge’s coach, a job that pays $67,000 a year. Once considered one of the worst teams in NCAA Division I, the squad has improved under his stewardship, going 14-14 last year.

Judith Brame, 58, an athletic program administrator, was named interim coach while Abraham remains on leave. She headed the search committee that recommended hiring Abraham. “We did a thorough search, and there was nothing that came up in his history,” she said.

However, administrators at Oregon State, where Abraham was assistant coach of the women’s basketball team before coming to Northridge, said they warned Northridge administrators that Abraham was under investigation for possibly violating NCAA regulations.

“I don’t know how they could have hired him,” said Hal Cowan, Oregon State sports information director. “To my knowledge, there’s no way they could have asked anyone at Oregon State who would have given them a good recommendation.”

The school concluded that the women’s basketball coaching staff committed violations that “spanned a large number of NCAA rules that included recruiting issues, extra-benefit issues and other issues.” Oregon State voluntarily reported the violations to the NCAA, suspended recruiting for one year and replaced the entire coaching staff.

In December 1995, the NCAA decided to take no further action. By that time, Abraham was at Northridge.

“We felt comfortable hiring him because the NCAA did not sanction Oregon State,” said Ryan Finney, Northridge assistant athletic director and a member of the search committee. “No major infractions were found.”

Athletic Director Paul Bubb and Brame met with the team Wednesday afternoon. Afterward, the players issued a statement that said:

“We feel like we lost a member of our family. We are all shocked, but we need to remain focused on our goals and the things that Coach Abraham wants us to accomplish. This is just another obstacle we have to overcome. We believe in our hearts he will be back, coaching our program.”

Bubb said Brame’s appointment “will provide a smooth transition for the women’s basketball program, because Judy Brame has coached the team in the past. And this also will give Coach Abraham the time necessary to focus on his personal issues.”

Abraham’s arrest shocked and surprised him, Bubb said. He had not heard rumors of drug use or sales involving Abraham, he said--”Never.”

Before Oregon State, Abraham was an assistant coach at Long Beach State, where he met his wife, Trisonya, a player on the school’s national champion volleyball team. She was an assistant women’s volleyball coach at Northridge in 1995 and is now an agent for professional athletes. She declined to comment on her husband’s arrest.

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Times staff writers Fernando Dominguez, Eric Sondheimer and David Wharton contributed to this story.

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* WARNING SIGNS: Northridge was warned it was taking a chance when it hired Michael Abraham in 1995. D10

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* REACTION: The coach who wanted to help the struggling program instead turned it upside-down. D10