Patriot arrested, then aids drug sting
Kaczur was accused of buying OxyContin; Secretly helped DEA in indicting supplier
By John R. Ellement and Shelley Murphy
Globe Staff / June 4, 2008
Starting New England Patriots offensive lineman Nicholas Kaczur was arrested in April on a charge of illegal possession of prescription painkillers and then secretly cooperated with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in a sting operation that resulted in the indictment of his alleged drug supplier, according to a lawyer and two people briefed on the investigation.
Kaczur - a 28-year-old, 315-pound offensive tackle - wore a hidden recording device during three different drug transactions in May at gas stations in Foxborough and North Attleborough and a supermarket parking lot in Sharon, according to the lawyer, the two people, and federal court documents. At each of the three transactions, Kaczur paid $3,900 in cash to buy 100 OxyContin pills, a potent prescription pain reliever.
Federal agents arrested the alleged dealer, Daniel Ekasala, moments after the third transaction with Kaczur, said Ekasala's lawyer. He was indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday on three counts of possession of oxycodone (the main ingredient in the prescription drug OxyContin) with intent to distribute. He is due to be arraigned today in federal court.
Kaczur, approached yesterday afternoon by a Globe reporter as he stood on the front porch of his Attleboro home, denied participating in a DEA investigation or buying drugs. He also said he was not familiar with Ekasala.
"I don't know what you're talking about, bro," Kaczur said repeatedly, in response to questions about the investigation. "I don't know where this is coming from. I don't know what you are talking about."
When asked if he was still playing for the Patriots, Kaczur, whose salary is listed at just under than $1.4 million this year, said, "Yeah."
The sting operation is detailed in a six-page affidavit filed by a DEA special agent in US District Court in Boston. That document makes constant reference to an unnamed cooperating witness, a buyer who was reaching out to the alleged dealer by text message, then meeting with the dealer to exchange cash for drugs.
After Ekasala was indicted yesterday morning, Ekasala's lawyer, Bernard Grossberg of Boston, acknowledged that Kaczur was the cooperating witness in the case. Two other people briefed on the investigation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, also verified that Kaczur was the cooperating witness in the DEA's case. If the case proceeds to trial, Kaczur would probably be required to testify.
Ekasala, Grossberg said yesterday, has himself been asked to cooperate by federal agents, but he has repeatedly rejected their proposal. "He is not cooperating," Grossberg said.
The attorney added that Ekasala was "an extremely reluctant participant and was somewhat enamored of being friendly with or having contact with a professional athlete."
Grossberg said that, according to DEA documents presented to him before the indictment, Kaczur said he had begun buying OxyContin in November 2007 and purchased 100 pills every few days, paying tens of thousands of dollars over time.
FULL STORY
http://www.boston.com/sports/footbal...ds_drug_sting/
Patriot arrested, then aids drug sting
Patriot arrested, then aids drug sting
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