BILLINGS – Ex-NFL player Travis Henry has signed a plea deal with prosecutors in which he admits to a single cocaine conspiracy charge in exchange for two other charges being dropped.
Henry, 30, of Frostproof, Fla., is scheduled to appear Thursday for a change of plea hearing in Billings. Under plea deal filed with the court Tuesday, he will admit to conspiracy to possess at least 11 pounds of cocaine with intent to distribute the drug.
If U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull accepts the plea, Henry faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life in prison, $4 million fine and at least five years of supervised release.
Henry and co-defendant James Mack, 29, of Bow Mar, Colo., were arrested in Denver in October, after authorities in Montana found six pounds of marijuana and about 6.6 pounds of cocaine that the pair allegedly supplied.
In exchange for Henry’s guilty plea, authorities said they would drop two counts of cocaine distribution that each carried another ten years minimum in prison.
Henry’s lawyer in Denver, Harvey Steinberg, did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Mack also has reached a plea deal with prosecutors, although details have not been revealed. His sentencing is set for April 23.
Henry was cut by the Denver Broncos in June after playing one season of a four-year, $22.5 million contract.
In the government’s offer of proof in his drug case, federal authorities quote an informant who described Henry as the “money guy” in the cocaine conspiracy.
However, since his release from the Broncos, Henry appears to have tapped out his financial resources. In February, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that one of Henry’s attorneys asked a Georgia judge for a temporary cut in child support payments for one of Henry’s nine children.
The judge denied the request after a lawyer for the boy’s mother argued Henry had spent thousands on jewelry, vehicles, a new home and other items.