MIAMI -- Investigators say former Miami Dolphin running back Eugene 'Mercury' Morris' arrest on drug charges followed by minutes a sale of two pounds of cocaine to undercover agents for $120,000.
Ray Havens, chief investigator for the Dade County State Attorney's Office, said the office was tipped Aug. 6 that Morris could provide a number of kilos of cocaine for a price.
He said undercover agents then set up a meeting for Wednesday for the purpose of making a buy. He said the purchase was made with $120,000 provided by his office at Morris' home just before agents of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement smashed their way inside despite the former NFL star's efforts to hold the door shut.
Morris went before County Judge Norman Gerstein Thursday, and his bond was set at $150,000. By early afternoon Morris had posted the bond and was freed.
He met his second wife, Bobbi, in the parking lot outside the county jail, and they embraced in tears.
Prosecutors had drawn an angry glance from Morris during the courtroom proceedings when they said they also had enough evidence to charge his wife. It was not disclosed why they did not charge her.
Morris faces three counts of selling cocaine, three counts of possessing cocaine, one count of trafficking in cocaine, one count of conspiracy to sell cocaine and one count possession of marijuana.
'The total penalties he faces is at least 100 years,' said George Yoss, chief assistant to the state attorney. 'The trafficking count is the big one. On that count (Morris faces) a minimum mandatory of 15 years, no parole or probation, and a $250,000 fine.'
'The reason is that the amount delivered was in excess of 400 grams of cocaine,' he said.
Also arrested as a result of the drug probe were Edgar Kulins, 32, who said he was from Massachusetts, and Vincent Cord, 42, of Miami. Bond for Cord was set at $100,000 and bond for Kulins set at $50,000.
The undercover agents operating under the fictitious identities of William Daniels, 37, of New Jersey, Fred Donaldson, 31, of Miami, also were reported by authorities as being arrested Wednesday, but actually were not.
Reaction to Morris' arrest was one of surprise in most quarters.
'I just hate to think that any ballplayer gets involved with drugs,' Dolphin coach Don Shula said. 'We heard rumors at different times about Mercury, but anytime we checked it out, we found there was nothing too it.'
'I'm shocked,' said former Dolphin lineman Larry Little. 'Everybody knew that he was flamboyant ... but I never suspected him of anything like this.'
The arrest came during the current uproar centering around drug use in the NFL. The controversy was sparked when Don Reese, a former NFL lineman and teammate of Morris, gave an account of drug use in the league in a June issue of Sport Illustrated.
Morris' name was mentioned in the article, but it contained no allegations of drug involvement by the former West Texas State star.
Morris signed with the Dolphins in 1969. He was a pro bowl selection three times, played in three Super Bowls and finished his career with 3,877 yards gained and 33 touchdowns.