FBI Busts Bam Morris For Drugs
Former Kansas City Chiefs running back Bam Morris was jailed on charges that he and two other suspects conspired to distribute at least 220 pounds of marijuana.
Morris, arrested Thursday at his suburban Kansas City home, appeared in court Friday with his lawyer. The U.S. Attorney's office asked that he be held without bond.
Morris was given probation in 1996 when he pleaded guilty to marijuana possession in Rockwall, Texas. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1998 for violating probation, but served only 89 days after his attorney was able to arrange a plea bargain.
State District Judge Sue Pirtle, who approved the agreement, made it clear in 1998 that it would be his last chance.
"It may look like you're getting off, but if you don't report to all meetings (or) if you are involved with drugs or even alcohol, you have a sentence for 10 years already in place," Pirtle told Morris then.
Morris will remain in jail pending a detention hearing Wednesday.
Another suspect, Dewayne Calvin Bryant, was arrested in Dallas, where he lives, FBI spokesman Jeff Lanza said. The other man, Robert Corey Myers, was being sought.
Morris, 28, unexpectedly announced his retirement from football after the 1999 season, shortly before disclosure of a federal investigation of alleged drug and car-theft rings.
Morris was mentioned earlier this year in an affidavit filed in connection with drug charges against a personal assistant of Chiefs return specialist Tamarick Vanover.
Vanover pleaded guilty in February to aiding and assisting in the sale of a stolen motor vehicle and agreed to cooperate with federal investigators. Vanover, who has agreed to cooperate with federal authorities investigating wide-ranging drug and car theft rings, was cut by the Chiefs on Friday.
The reference to Morris in the earlier affidavit said that he was a passenger in a vehicle that was found to have marijuana residue in it after it left Vanover's driveway. His agent said then that Morris was "an innocent party."
The charges filed Thursday resulted from an investigation by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service. Morris, Bryant and Myers are accused of conspiring with others since at least January 1998 to distribute marijuana in western Missouri and elsewhere.
©2000 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed