The Cheerleader's Suitcase

On 15 July 1993 Drug Enforcement agents stopped Tracy Donaho, a Los Angeles Rams cheerleader, at Atlanta's airport and found twelve kilograms of cocaine in her bag. Donaho was romantically involved with Darryl Henley, a Rams player, and prosecutors said she was his courier. Their theory was that a supplier, Rafael Bustamante, fed cocaine to Henley, who with two associates tried to move it in Memphis and Atlanta while his uncle Rex helped package and hide the loads. Henley, his uncle and three others were indicted in federal court in the Central District of California for conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine and for possession with intent to distribute. Donaho and another defendant, Alejandro Cuevas, pleaded guilty and became government witnesses; the case against Henley rested heavily on her account and on the trail of flights, calls and couriers around him. The defence had an obvious target: a cooperating witness caught red-handed with the drugs, who had every incentive to put the blame on the famous boyfriend. The trial ran before a federal jury in early 1995, and deliberations lasted roughly three days.