ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 2, 1996 TAG: 9604020060
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DALLAS
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
All-Pro wide receiver Michael Irvin was indicted on two counts of drug possession, less than a month after the Dallas Cowboys' star was found with three others in a motel room littered with cocaine and marijuana.
The attorney general's office confirmed Monday the two-count indictment against Irvin. Also indicted were two female companions. It was not clear whether Irvin's former teammate, Alfredo Roberts was indicted.
Irvin, the Cowboys' all-time leading receiver, Roberts and two topless dancers were found in an Irving motel room on March 4 with two ounces of cocaine, three ounces of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, police said.
Telephone messages left with Irvin's attorney, Kevin Clancy, were not immediately returned.
Police said one of the women, Angela Renee Beck, 22, claimed she was the owner of the drugs in the room, which police estimated to be worth $6,000. They only arrested her at the time.
No decision on Roberts, 31, a business associate of Irvin, had been made early this afternoon, a spokeswoman with the district attorney's office said.
The indictment charges Irvin, Beck and Jasmine J. Nabwangu, 21, with possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor. Irvin and Beck are charged with felony possession of at least four grams of cocaine.
Nabwangu is charged with having less than a gram of cocaine, also a felony.
The case, which has been under a gag order for all those involved, will be referred to State District Judge Harold Entz. No trial date has been set.
Fort Worth television station KXAS had reported the grand jury offered Roberts and the women ``use immunity,'' meaning that their testimony could not be used against them. But other evidence could be used against them should they be charged and brought to trial.
Irvin appeared before the grand jury, the last time on Friday.
After that session, Irvin, Roberts and the two women left the court building grim-faced. Irvin's only comment to reporters was, ``I have a flight to catch.''
Irving police said they found the drugs and paraphernalia in the motel room after responding to a motel manager's complaint about a noisy party involving possible prostitution and drug use.
In an article published this week in Sports Illustrated, Irving police officer Matt Drumm, one of four officers who went to the motel room, said they knocked repeatedly at the door as they heard many people moving around inside.
``When we did get the door [partially] open, they had the security bar on it. A big cloud of smoke came out,'' he told the magazine.
When the officers displayed their handcuffs, a male voice inside the room asked, ``Can I tell you who I am?''
KXAS quoted sources close to the investigation Thursday night as saying that Irvin's fingerprints were found on various items in the room, including dinner plates on which drugs were found.
The station also reported last week that a glass container with cocaine residue was found in Irvin's overnight bag.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Cowboys' wide receiver Michael Irvin leaves theby CNBDallas County Jail after posting bail for two counts of drug
possession. color KEYWORDS: FOOTBALL