CLEVELAND -- A government informer testified Thursday that he saw an FBI document that listed Former Cleveland Browns All-Pro defensive back Thom Darden as a suspected cocaine dealer.
The testimony came in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court from David Rice, an accused cocaine dealer testifying against Michellene Reddish, who is charged with drug trafficking.
Darden, reached at his suburban Beachwood home, denied the allegation.
'That's a real joke,' Darden said. 'I'll sue his pants off. This thing burns me up. I'm no angel, by any stretch of the imagination, but you'd never see me being associated with any dealings like that.'
Darden said he knew Rice slightly, when they worked for competing radio stations several years ago.
'I don't really even know the guy, to speak of,' he said.
He also said Reddish at one time worked as an account executive at the same radio station as he did, WHK-WMMS.
An FBI spokesman refused to comment on the testimony.
Rice testified that he told police when he was arrested last November that 'he had a list of people and friends who did drugs,' including Darden and Reddish.
Rice said that after he was arrested he agreed to cooperate with authorities in trapping other drug dealers.
He testified that while he was getting 'wired' with a hidden microphone by agents on Dec. 13, 1984, he was given an FBI list of suspected drug pushers in the Cleveland area, a list that included Darden, Reddish, local radio station executive Walt Tiburski, Michael Mercer, supervisor of security for the Cleveland School District, and Sonny Moss, owner of Mo's Uptown Restaurant in suburban Beachwood.
Tiburski and Mercer could not be reached for comment, but Moss denied ever selling cocaine.
'That is absolutely ridiculous,' said Moss, who added that he didn't even know Rice.
Darden, a native of Sandusky, was Cleveland's No. 1 draft choice out of Michigan in 1972. He played through the 1982 season and set a club record in 1978 with 10 interceptions.
Darden has worked as a sales representative at WHK radio and had a one-hour jazz show on WMMS radio. He also was the Browns' representative in the Ronald McDonald House program, a temporary home for families whose children are receiving treatment for serious illnesses.
