BRONCO ACQUITTED OF DRUG CHARGES

Saturday, June 30, 2001 - Denver Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski sobbed
in a Douglas County courtroom Friday after a jury acquitted him of charges
that he conspired to fraudulently obtain prescription diet drugs.

The four-time Super Bowl winner, teary-eyed and trembling, thanked his wife
for standing by him.

"Oh, God, I was very, very worried," a soft-spoken Romanowski said after
the verdict. "It was very scary. If (I was) found guilty by the jury, it
probably would have cost me a year's suspension of what I love to do."

He also faced up to nine years in prison and a $100,000 fine if convicted.

Romanowski said he will now support his wife, Julie Romanowski, who is
scheduled to go on trial Aug. 14 on charges that she conspired to obtain
the appetite suppressant phentermine for her husband.

"We still have another go-around," Romanowski said. "I have to take care of
her." Julie Romanowski did not attend the four-day trial.

Bill Romanowski was charged with one count of unlawful possession of a
controlled substance, two counts of conspiracy and one count of obtaining a
controlled substance by fraud and deceit.

The jury of six men and six women deliberated for more than four hours.

Jury foreman Dean Jakubczak said jurors at first were split.

"We took a straw poll when we began, and it was five to seven, guilty to
not guilty," Jakubczak said.

He said the jury thought Romanowski never illegally possessed the drug.
That being the case, there was no conspiracy to commit that crime,
Jakubczak said.

Prosecutors also failed to prove that Romanowski illegally obtained the
drug, he said. So, again, there could be no conspiracy to illegally obtain it.

Jakubczak said when he was first named to the jury, "I did think, "Oh my
goodness, this is a high-profile case.'"

But even as a Broncos fan, Jakubczak said he didn't particularly feel one
way or another about Romanowski.

Jurors were not star-struck by the high-profile Bronco, he said. The jury
felt that "everyone should be treated the same under the law."

Prosecutor Michael Spear declined to comment. But Mike Knight, spokesman
for the district attorney's office, said it was a difficult case.

"A grand jury of citizens decided there was sufficient evidence to indict,"
he said.

Knight said it is too early to determine whether the verdict will affect
Julie Romanowski's upcoming trial. She was charged in 1999 on eight counts
of obtaining phentermine by fraud and deceit and one count of conspiracy.

In closing arguments, Spear described Romanowski as the insulated leader of
a drug conspiracy that involved his wife, family friends and Dr. Randall Snook.

Snook pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor charge of unlawfully
dispensing a controlled substance in the case and received 18 months of
probation.

The scheme, Spear said, involved Snook using the names of Julie Romanowski
and family friends on prescriptions meant for Bill Romanowski to use as a
performance-enhancer before games.

Spear said Romanowski intentionally distanced himself from the other
conspirators in case they were caught.

Defense attorneys Jeffrey Springer and Harvey Steinberg said Romanowski's
fame made him the target of investigators with the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration and the Douglas County Sheriff's Department.

They said six investigators intimidated the couple when they entered their
Lone Tree home illegally to conduct interviews and harassed them at an
autograph signing at Park Meadows Mall.

Sheriff's investigator Jeff Grimwood testified last week that he stood in
line to get an autographed photo of the athlete, framed it and placed it on
his desk. Someone later pasted a "Proud to be drug free" note to it, which
he removed, he said.

Grimwood said on Friday that defense attorneys used the photo incident as a
diversion. "What they brought up had nothing to do with what they (the
Romanowskis) had done wrong," he said.

Defense attorneys also cited a phone conversation that was taped by
investigators in which Bill Romanowski asked Snook if it was "OK" to get
the prescriptions, and Snook told him it was.

"This was a nothing event ... that threatened his life," Springer said.

Romanowski, 35, said Friday that he wanted to testify on his own behalf
during the trial but didn't on the advice of his attorneys. He also said he
was hurt by what the case did to his reputation.

"I care about what people think about me. I take a lot of pride in being a
good person, being a role model, and a lot of that was in question for sure
during the last two years."

The Broncos released a statement saying the organization "is pleased with
the jury's decision in the case involving Bill Romanow-ski. We are also
pleased that the trial has come to a conclusion and that we, and Bill, can
move forward as we prepare for the upcoming season."

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen and coach Mike Shanahan were not available for
comment.

Romanowski was involved in winning four Super Bowls, two with the San
Francisco 49ers and two with the Broncos.