The DEA Investigation

The Drug Investigation:

“They encountered staff who lied, deceived and generally believed that if they were part of the program, no ill should or could come to them.”
“Getting away with things had become an art form in the Razorback athletic department.”
“Lies and deception.”
“It was an abuse of power. (They) felt above the law.”
“It was a culture that permeated the athletic department for years.”
“It became a story of arrogance and deception.”

Recent message board chatter? No, quotes from an article written exactly 12 years ago by Mike Rodman* of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette during his coverage of the 2 year DEA investigation and subsequent criminal convictions of athletic trainers Dean Weber (the current Head Trainer at the U of A) and Dave England for their failure to maintain proper records related to the dispensing of narcotics to players in the mid-90s. The UofA athletic department was fined a $100,000 civil penalty for violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act.

Read entire article.

A minor “glitch” in the drug laws prevented the trainers from being charged with illegally purchasing narcotics, dispensing the drugs without a prescription and improperly bottling and labeling drugs, nearly 10,000 doses of Darvocet in one 15 month period alone.

In order for the university to actually maintain prescription drugs on-site, they would have been registered with the DEA. Because they were not registered with the DEA and therefore should not have had possession of the drugs initially, the federal investigators were precluded from actually charging Weber with the illegal purchase, possession and distribution of the narcotics and other prescription drugs. The legal loophole only allowed them to charge Weber with not keeping proper records.

According to the DEA investigation, the drugs were purchased by Weber from a local pharmacy using the team doctor’s prescription number and were kept in an unlocked cabinet in the trainer’s room at the UofA. The drugs were then dispensed without a doctor present and without prescriptions by Weber and his training staff to players and to university staff members including, according to the DEA investigation, athletic director Frank Broyles.

However, strict NCAA guidelines for the distribution of all controlled substances were in place as early as 1992 and the University of Arkansas was clearly aware of these guidelines according to the federal investigators. While the Arkansas women’s athletic department immediately removed all prescription drugs from its training room, the men’s department willfully ignored the NCAA guidelines.

While AD Frank Broyles and Weber both initially denied knowing about the guidelines, the investigation proved they knew about the guidelines. Broyles took no steps to change the illegal medication dispensing procedures and knowingly ignored the NCAA guidelines. An assistant trainer and U of A instructor testified that Weber openly opposed changes to the distribution of the narcotics and made no changes in the handling and dispensing of medication. The trainers continued to dispense the narcotics without prescription and without supervision from a physician.

However, on October 13, 1993, Shannon Wright, an Arkansas football player, placed a gun in his nose and pulled the trigger. Wright had been given Darvocet for a football injury by the trainer’s staff according to sworn statements by his mother, Wright’s girlfriend and a member of the UA training room staff.

Darvocet is a narcotic painkiller and the manufacturer clearly warns against the drug being given to people who are addiction-prone, suffers from depression or who are suicidal and the drug should never be mixed with alcohol. Wright had been arrested several times for DWI, had sought treatment for alcohol abuse, suffered from depression and had once made a feeble attempt at suicide. All under the care and supervision of the UA football program.

A lawsuit by Wright’s mother was filed against the UofA, Dean Weber, AD Frank Broyles and others. The suit was initially dismissed, however it was reaffirmed by the Arkansas Supreme Court and remanded back to circuit court for trial. The suit was dropped a mere five years after Wright’s death because “it became increasingly complicated with the fact that witnesses have moved all over the country” according to plaintiff’s attorney.
And then she very quietly disappeared.

The tragedy could possibly have been avoided had the athletic department understood the importance of following the guidelines set forth by the NCAA and the common medical practice of allowing physicians to disperse and monitor the use of narcotics. Unfortunately, the Arkansas AD may very well have had extensive first hand knowledge of the dangers of dispensing addictive narcotics to players without proper supervision.

READ article about Billy Burns.

Billy Burns, a player under Broyles from 1971 to 1974, became addicted to narcotics dispensed by the programs in order to keep him on the field. Broyles closely followed Burns through his troubled adulthood after college, a life consumed with addiction, prison, and unemployment. “He was very helpful,” reported Debbie Burns, Billy’s wife. However, she was quick to add, “His last two years, Billy played on pain pills. Coach knew that and coach allowed that.” Coach Broyles denied Debbie’s claim that Billy’s tragic life was the result of the addiction that began as an Arkansas player, and on three different occasions blamed the addiction on three different injuries Billy suffered after his playing days at Arkansas.

On November 9, 1992, Billy Burns died in prison of a heart attack. It was his fourth stint in prison. He was survived by his wife, Debbie, and his 4 year old and 6 year old children. He was 39. According to Ms. Burns claims during the Wright lawsuit, Broyles offered her a legal settlement not to take legal action against him.

And then she very quietly disappeared.


* ADG reporter Mike Rodman, December 4, 1994
DEA Investigation report
Wallace v. J. Frank Broyles, Dean Weber, and others, Supreme Court of Arkansas 1/15/1998