By DENISE LAVOIE, AP
June 5, 2008
BOSTON - A starting lineman for the New England Patriots worked as an informant for federal drug agents in Boston after he was arrested in upstate New York on a charge of carrying the powerful painkiller oxycodone without a prescription, an attorney said.
Nicholas Kaczur, 28, wore a wire to help agents build a case against his alleged supplier, Daniel Ekasala, according to Ekasala's attorney.
A Drug Enforcement Administration agent said in an affidavit that a cooperating witness - whose name was not revealed - wore a recording device during three drug buys in May. In each of the deals, the witness bought 100 OxyContin pills from Ekasala for $3,900 in cash, the agent wrote.
Ekasala's lawyer, Bernard Grossberg, identified Kaczur as that cooperating witness.
Kaczur denied to The Boston Globe that he participated in the investigation, telling the newspaper, "I don't know what you're talking about, bro."
Kaczur has an unlisted telephone number and could not be reached for comment.
The football player, who lives in Attleboro, Mass., was pulled over by New York State Police in Whitestown, near Utica, on April 27. He had been driving 76 mph in a 65-mph zone. He was charged with a misdemeanor count of criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Kaczur, who was drafted by the Patriots in 2005, started 15 games last season.
The drug case is a new blow to the Pats' image, already soiled by the team's illegal videotape spying against opponents.
Patriots spokeswoman Stacey James would not comment on Kaczur. She referred questions to the US Attorney's Office in Boston, which declined comment.
Ekasala, 34, was indicted Tuesday and remains free on an unsecured bond of $10,000. He pleaded not guilty yesterday in US District Court in Boston to three counts of possession of oxycodone with intent to distribute.
Kaczur told the DEA he began purchasing OxyContin in November, getting 100 pills every few days, Grossberg said. The lawyer said he believes Kaczur inflated the quantity to "increase his importance or usability to the DEA."
Ekasala, an unemployed construction worker and father of 2-year-old twins, was sympathetic to Kaczur and somewhat in awe of him, Grossberg said.
"As anybody who meets a professional athlete . . . I think he became somewhat enamored by his contact with him, and was enticed to do certain things," Grossberg said.
